Reassuring and hopeful, The Essential Hip Mama is a brilliant testament that one becomes an “expert” simply through the act of mothering, echoing Gore’s own words, “Whenever I’ve needed parenting advice, I’ve put out a call for submissions. Atlas of the Human Heart is Gores memoir in which she traces her travel, at the age of sixteen, to Hong Kong, and the years as a student, smuggler, squatter, and actress she spent as she moved on to Tibet, Nepal, India, Amsterdam, and England. The Essential Hip Mama captures the heart of a decade’s worth of earthy, honest, soulful parenting-and topics from circumcision to dating, abortion to the belief that “mothers don’t fart.” Gore has gathered in one volume the whispers and conversations heard in homes, on playgrounds, and in coffeehouses around the country. Like Jack Kerouacs intrepid little sister, Ariel Gore spins the spirited story of a vulnerable drifter who takes refuge in the recesses of the human heart. The zine that’s been called “fun and irreverent” by USA Today, “delightful” by Glamour, and “cutting-edge” by the Chicago Tribune has grown up alongside Gore’s daughter, covering subjects from weaning to home schooling with a political edge and a puckish sense of humor. Like Jack Kerouac’s intrepid little sister, Ariel Gore spins the spirited story of a vulnerable drifter who takes refuge in the recesses of the human h. Like Jack Kerouacs intrepid little sister, Ariel Gore spins the spirited story of a vulnerable drifter who takes refuge in the recesses of the.

It’s been over a decade since Ariel Gore, in a caffeine-induced brainstorm, invented Hip Mama as her senior project in college.

Atlas of the Human Heart by Ariel Gore