I was handed this book to read on Friday after I started interning for the New Space for Women's Health in nyc. I read it, completely enraptured, in one fell swoop, and then saw Carol talk at Bluestockings on Saturday. On Sunday, I sit here writing this review. This book is fucking hysterical, heart-wrenching and written with deft clarity. None of that gross fuzz that coats a lot of midwifery/women-fer-women memoirs of that time. It actually inspired me to become a midwife after I swore that I'd never catch a baby--although, don't get all hip on yourself, Ms Leonard, I was already gonna be a women's health NP. A seriously good read for anyone interested in the beautiful complexity of life, whether you think you care about midwifery or not. ( )