The Baby on the Fire Escape Audiobook By Julie Phillips cover art

The Baby on the Fire Escape

Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem

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The Baby on the Fire Escape

By: Julie Phillips
Narrated by: Marnye Young
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An insightful and provocative exploration of the relationship between motherhood and art through the lives of women artists and writers.

What does it mean to create, not in "a room of one's own," but in a domestic space? Do children and genius rule each other out? In The Baby on the Fire Escape, award-winning biographer Julie Phillips traverses the shifting terrain where motherhood and creativity converge.

With fierce empathy and vivid prose, Phillips evokes the intimate struggles of brilliant artists and writers, including Doris Lessing, who had to choose between her motherhood and herself; Ursula K. Le Guin, who found productive stability in family life; Audre Lorde, whose queer, polyamorous union allowed her to raise children on her own terms; and Alice Neel, who once, to finish a painting, was said to have left her baby on the fire escape of her New York apartment. A meditation on maternal identity and artistic greatness, The Baby on the Fire Escape illuminates some of the most pressing conflicts in contemporary women's lives.

©2022 Julie Phillips (P)2022 Tantor Art & Literature Authors Gender Studies Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences
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I had heard of many of the visual artist who’s stories were included in this book, but not the literary ones. It is so wonderful to have them together, which has helped me better understand and articulate my own journey of motherhood while confronting the challenges of being a female artist in the world.

This book sent me down a rabbit hole of looking up so many authors. I loved it!


A must read for Artist Mothers

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I am purchasing a print version of this book to return to in times of need. As an actor and artist experiencing motherhood (and double pandemic motherhood at that) I have felt lost during this time of change. Thank you to Julie Phillips for her brilliant analyses and for profiling this wide range of incredible artist mothers. And for helping me see the mother’s journey as a hero’s journey!!

Life changing

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As an artist approaching motherhood, I am left deeply changed by this book. It was exactly what I needed to read in this moment. Marnye Young brought me on the most beautiful journey—pain, hope, fear, transcendence. What an important, MUST read for women artists. By the end I was in tears, I was so moved and thankful for what the author had laid out. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Life changing

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author's use of biography is artful. Unlike many non-fiction books, the narrative kept me wanting to listen and come back for more. Her use of the multiple mini-biographies that relate to each other creates a book that has the interest of fiction while providing real-life knowledge and perspective.

The choice of narrator matches the book well.

I am ready for more from Julie Phillips.

Wonderful Book Filled With Lively Biographies

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Great examination of the overwhelming task of being true to oneself while mothering. Great research, beautiful narratives, awe inspiring women.

Excellent and overdue

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