Next Thursday, June 25, Southampton author Alex Kuczynski [above] will be interviewing Dr. Wednesday Martin, the author of the controversial new book PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE. The event starts at 5:30 PM; cocktail reception to follow, and check this out − whoever asks the best question will win a free “Birkin” bag.  Primates of Park Avenue is an anthropological memoir of Manhattan Motherhood and chronicles what happens when a Midwestern social researcher with a background in anthropology moves to Manhattan’s most prestigious ZIP code…and raises her children there. Primates of Park Avenue reveals the pressures, conundrums and competition that make mothers and mothering in Manhattan unique.

From a deconstruction of the exercise and self-care practices of the caste of women with children she calls “Manhattan Geishas” to the lurid details of her own crazed pursuit of a Birkin bag; to an analysis of the rites of passage like the co-op board interview, the gut renovation, bed bug battles and “ongoing” school applications that brought her to her knees; to an exploration of what she calls “the world’s most complicated, fraught, and misrepresented relationship, the dance between mothers and the nannies they hire to help them raise their children”; to an inside view of the galas, benefits, kiddie birthday parties and other extravaganzas of conspicuous consumption that define her adopted tribe, Martin spares no detail in exploring what makes Uptown motherhood strange, exotic and utterly foreign and fascinating.

At the same time, Primates of Park Avenue illuminates the quests, anxieties and ambitions–for a healthy, happy child, a good night’s sleep, sexual satisfaction, financial security and a concealer that actually works–that connect women with children all across the country and all over the world.  Dr. Martin writes for the online edition of Psychology Today, focusing on gender, parenting and popular culture.  She has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, NPR, NBC News, the BBC Newshour and Fox News as a step/parenting expert.  She was a regular contributor to New York Post‘s parenting and lifestyle pages for several years, and now writes regularly on step-parenting issues for The Daily Telegraph. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times.

Location: Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton, NY 11968; 631 283 0967
Date: June 25, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM

Buy tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1714339

COMING UP FOR ALEX: On July 16, I will be interviewing Jamie Brickhouse about his new memoir DANGEROUS WHEN WET, which the author Mary Karr has described as “blisteringly funny and wrenching.” Also, on July 30th, we will be honored by the force of nature that is Candace Bushnell and her new, way-out-of-the-box novel, KILLING MONICA.