Primates of Park Avenue : a memoir / Wednesday Martin, PhD.
Like an urban Dian Fossey, Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe. After marrying a man from the Upper East Side and moving to the neighborhood, Wednesday Martin struggled to fit in. Drawing on her background in anthropology and primatology, she tried looking at her new world through that lens, and suddenly things fell into place. She understood the other mothers' snobbiness at school drop-off when she compared them to olive baboons. Her obsessional quest for a Hermes Birkin handbag made sense when she realized other females wielded them to establish dominance in their troop. And so she analyzed tribal migration patterns; display rituals; physical adornment, mutilation, and mating practices; extra-pair copulation; and more. Every city has its Upper East Side, and in Wednesday's memoir, readers everywhere will recognize the strange cultural codes of powerful social hierarchies and the compelling desire to climb them. They will also see that Upper East Side mothers want the same things for their children that all mothers want -- safety, happiness, and success -- and not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs can protect this ecologically released tribe from the universal experiences of anxiety and loss. When Wednesday's life turns upside down, she learns how deep the bonds of female friendship really are.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781476762623
- ISBN: 1476762627
- Physical Description: vii, 248 pages : maps ; 22 cm
- Edition: First Simon & Schuster edition
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2015.
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-246).
- Formatted Contents Note:
- Comme il Faut -- Playdate Pariah -- Going Native: Mommy Wants a Birkin -- Manhattan Geisha -- A Girl's Night In -- A Xanax and a Bloody Mary: Manhattan Moms on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown -- A Rainy Day -- Summary Fieldnotes.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Martin, Wednesday.
Children of the rich > Anecdotes.
Interpersonal relations > New York (State) > New York.
Mothers > New York (State) > New York > Biography.
Mothers > New York (State) > New York > Social life and customs.
Primates > Behavior > Miscellanea.
Rich people > Anecdotes.
Mothers.
New York (N.Y.) > Biography.
New York (N.Y.) > Social life and customs.
Upper East Side (New York, N.Y.) > Biography.
Upper East Side (New York, N.Y.) > Social life and customs. - Genre:
- Anecdotes.
Autobiographies.
Trivia and miscellanea.
Available copies
- 14 of 14 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
- 2 of 2 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 14 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Main Library | BIO MARTIN (Text) | 36015000678280 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Sneads Ferry Branch Library | BIO MARTIN (Text) | 36015001199146 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
