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The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 642 ratings · 84 reviews

Intimate, honest and generous meditations on the delicate balance of mothering a baby and maintaining an artistic life, from the celebrated novelist and poet."Observant, tender and honest." "--New York Times Book Review"

Paperback, 240 pages

Published March 1st 1996 by Harper Perennial (first published 1995)

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Best Books of 1995

46th out of 149 books — 63 voters

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm by Mei-Ling Hopgood

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Multicultural Motherhood

1st out of 12 books — 6 voters

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Sep 08, 2007 Breezy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I did not think it was possible that I could be disappointed by Ms. Erdrich, but I was with this one.

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2009 Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, 50books_poc, ojibwe_country, spirit

This is such a beautiful book - lyrical and thought-provoking, and full of a certain dream-like quality that I (think I) recognize as the need for sleep. I loved Erdrich's honesty, her strategy for coping with a ceaselessly crying baby (calling her names in the sweetest voice she had), her musings on losing herself in motherhood and finding her way back to a life with, but not of, her child.

A quick read, it feels written for new mothers - the chapters aren't chapters so much as short vignettes;...more

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Dec 20, 2008 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book approaches the best book on mothering I have ever read. Precisely because it is poetic and doesn't collapse a large world into a small, explainable thing. It wanders and waits and watches and takes it time. She's not interested in theories or milestones as much as those slippery, inexplicable moments of grace and agony. I felt wrapped up in her experience and fundamentally understood--feminine, in a way that I didn't understand before I had children. I have wanted to express my experie...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Callie rated it 3 of 5 stars

There is some lovely nature writing here and some good, honest descriptions of the all-encompassing work of motherhood. I wish I had read this when my kids were babies--I'm glad for all the moments Erdrich expresses the intensity and difficulty of being a mother.

Edrich's skill as a writer shines through as she describes pain and beauty, darkness, depression, joy, observes wildlife and the forest that surrounds, describes her babies and their growth--all with precision, care, and grace. She never...more There is some lovely nature writing here and some good, honest descriptions of the all-encompassing work of motherhood. I wish I had read this when my kids were babies--I'm glad for all the moments Erdrich expresses the intensity and difficulty of being a mother.

Edrich's skill as a writer shines through as she describes pain and beauty, darkness, depression, joy, observes wildlife and the forest that surrounds, describes her babies and their growth--all with precision, care, and grace. She never does sound self-pitying or complaining. She honors toughness--that of her forbears, herself, her offspring, the survival instinct of all living things.

If there is anything that keeps me from giving this book four stars it is that Erdrich sometimes seems to want to create or say things that to me do not sound authentic; they do not ring true. They make pretty sentences, but they are too precious.

I find also that in some of the nature writing I read from this era (the 1990s) that there is almost a self-congratulatory or complacent element that creeps in and then I feel less enjoyment in the writing. It is as if the writer thinks he or she is a little more righteous or enlightened than everyone else because she is wise enough to observe and enjoy the natural world, and there is an artificial (!) feeling at those moments.

Now we are in a post 9/11 world of edginess and fear and a distractedness that makes some of these works from the 90s seem naive to me. Too content. Like the writer is a cat who has just finished a bowl of cream and congratulates herself for her enjoyment of it. But who gave her the bowl? She is dependent on her caretaker and doesn't see how tenuous her existence really is.

However, here are some quotes I liked:

"The primary parent of a new infant loses the ability to focus. and that in turn saws on the emotions, wears away the fragile strings of nerves. Hormones, milk, heaviness, no sleep, internal joy, all jam the first few months after a baby is born, so that I experience a state of tragic confusion. Most days, I can't get enough distance on myself to define what I am feeling. I walk through a tunnel from one house to the other. . . I'm being swallowed alive. On those days, suicide is an idea too persistent for comfort. There isn't a self to kill, I think, filled with dramatic pity for who I used to be. That person is gone. Yet, once I've established that I have no personal self, killing whatever remains seems hardly worth the effort...."

"Any sublime effort has its dark moments."
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Jul 04, 2011 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, memoir, parenting, nonfiction

"Growing, bearing, mothering or fathering, supporting and at last letting go of an infant is a powerful and mundane creative act that rapturously sucks up whole chunks of life."

"Time with children runs through our fingers like water as we lift our hands, try to hold, to capture, to fix moments in a lens, a magic circle of images or words. We snap photos, videotape, memorialize while we experience a fast-forward in which there is no replay of even a single instant."

"Rocking, breathing, groaning,...more

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May 25, 2010 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Love,love, loved this book. How have I not read Louise Erdrich before? Wow, her writing is beautiful, magical. I found myself reading and rereading passages, then highlighting phrases, paragraphs. This book was a memoir about the early parenting of her 3 daughters (also adopted 3 older american indian boys), but it also touches wildlife and gardening. While I was reading this book, I did a little research online about the author and her real life story is full of drama and sadness. I learned so...more

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Sep 10, 2009 Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Memorable:
"Women without children are also the best of mothers, often with the patience, interest and saving grace that the constant relationships with children cannot always sustain. I come to crave our talk and our daughters gain precious aunts. A child is fortunate who feels witnessed as a person, outside the relationship with parents, by another adult."

"You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth...let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness."

"Children...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Kirsten rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like a conversation with a wise friend, complete with recipe ideas (including an all-licorice dinner menu!) I like the short entries, diary-like format, which allows Erdrich to let her thoughts go where they will and have the whole thing still hold together.

This resonated:
"The British psychotherapist Adam Phillips has examined obstacles from several different angles, attempting to define thier emotional use: 'It is impossible to imagine desire without obstacles,' he writes, 'and wherever we find...more

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Aug 09, 2009 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Can't decide how I feel.

First impression: Incredible writer - love the way she talks of birth and the connection to her babies. Her connection to nature is clear - though her noble bearing often crosses into a certain superiority over us (the reader).

Anna informed me of Erdrich's background: her husband wasn't even Native American as he claimed. Another white guy playing Indian. AND he killed himself because he allegedly abused his children (as did she). Makes those parts of the book where she...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book contains journal like entries about Erdrich's pregnancy and the first months of her third daughter's birth, while living in a New Hampshire farmhouse with her writer husband Michael Dorris and their other children. Louise was born in North Dakota and has Ojibwa blood from her maternal grandfather; some of her thoughts reach back to this upbringing. This is a gentle, contemplative book to read, with much observation on nature the blurb on the book jacket says she "takes the mundane rout...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Jon Manchester rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, new-england

My favorite part of Louise's memoir is a section entitled "Horizon Sickness" which describes how this North Dakota girl had trouble living in New England and not being able to see the horizon. I've had the opposite experience, having grown up in Vermont and now living in the flatlands of the upper midwest. Louise says: "I am suspicious of Eastern land: the undramatic loveliness, the small scale, the lack of sky to watch, the way the weather sneaks up without enough warning." This whole section i...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Gemma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: raising-kids

It's supposed to be a down to earth series of essays about the first year of her sixth child's life. There were a couple good observations, none of which I could remember as soon as I was done with the book. I couldn't really appreciate it, since I spent most of the book thinking, "Oh look at you, aren't you cool. You've got six kids and three are adopted and one has series birth defects and you're writing a book with a newborn. Great, so you function better with no sleep than I do. Screw you an...more

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May 05, 2010 Katina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, parenting

This book consists of Erdrich's reflections on a year surrounding the birth of a child. It's cobbled together out of memories from the pregnancies and births of her three daughters and broken out into seasons. Parts of the book astounded me with their beauty and lyrical description of feelings I've had the past 8 months of motherhood, but haven't been able to put into words. The way Erdrich describes how time moves dreadfully slow as well as flashing forward in an instant for a parent was spot o...more

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Apr 18, 2012 JoTownhead rated it 4 of 5 stars

Louise Erdrich chronicles the first year of her baby's life in rural New Hampshire. The baby's birth and development and her own spiritual and emotional growth are rooted in the cycles of nature. The family live surrounded by teeming wildlife, flora and fauna - all described so evocatively. Seasons pass inexorably and events are recorded in a series of self-standing pieces (some of which have been published in magazines), capturing the essence of motherhood and interweaving wise observations on...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Phoebe rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a beautiful, meditative book on being a mother and a writer, pregnancy and the baby's first year of development, the way we experience growth and change - thrilling gains and losses. Not much happens, and yet everything happens (WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL) inside and outside the writer's window in the woods... caring for newborn, not-taming a feral cat, watching a hawk confused by the blue jay's desperation dance, walking through a fortress fence into a game preserve and encountering a...more

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May 22, 2012 Isabell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading this book is like peeking into the soul of every mother who ever lived, though every mother's life is different, of course. In a kind-of almost-poetic, dreamlike prose, it describes moments of the purest oneness, the most intense warmth, but also deep wells of darkness. The author springs those fleeting moments on us the way they occur in real life, randomly, unannounced, like little revelations, amid what is our everyday life. And if not everyday life, then whatever it is we do, as moth...more Reading this book is like peeking into the soul of every mother who ever lived, though every mother's life is different, of course. In a kind-of almost-poetic, dreamlike prose, it describes moments of the purest oneness, the most intense warmth, but also deep wells of darkness. The author springs those fleeting moments on us the way they occur in real life, randomly, unannounced, like little revelations, amid what is our everyday life. And if not everyday life, then whatever it is we do, as mothers, in our attempt to fight off complete self-erasure.

In her case, it's planning gardens in winter and animal-watching during spring and summer, descriptions of which turn into allegories for the creation and celebration of the cycle of life, of birth and death, taking and letting go.

Her new baby is not mentioned in every chapter, and less increasingly as the chapters progress. Sometimes, it's uncomfortably absent. It doesn't have a name, it's just "the baby", and her other children and husband are mere sketches, mentioned only 3 or 4 times or so. As such, the book doesn't read like a journal of a mother doting on her daughter and her every milestone and recounting family life, but as that of a woman, mother, who must wean, who must let go, who must break apart from the togetherness, who must be destroyed and built up again, who must, in the end, find herself again, quietly, crossing the bridge back into solitude. It is this dependence-independence dance that is at the heart of this memoir, and, I find, at the heart of every baby-mother relationship.

There are many passages I find myself re-reading for their beauty. And yet, I feel that something is missing, that she is hiding something from me. Her family life, certainly, the names of her children. And maybe she is hiding it on purpose, that elusive thing about motherhood, the sanctity that we cannot explain, that we cannot name, not even a writer as accomplished as Louise Erdrich. I like that she doesn't try, at least directly, that she keeps it anonymous, but makes it present, nonetheless.

The book is meaningful and melancholy, enriched with beautiful little moments here and there, if not exactly the way I have experienced early motherhood myself, then very much like it.

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May 12, 2009 Mawgojzeta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: louise-erdrich, nonfiction

In her first work of nonfiction, Louise Erdrich examines the joys and frustrations in the course of twelve months, from a winter pregnancy through a spring and summer of new motherhood, to a fall return to writing. She does this brilliantly. I was totally caught up from the first page. Not simply a book for mothers, it is a book for anyone who has been the primary caregiver, or anyone who plans to be a mother.

Read this excerpt:

There is a dance that appears out of nowhere, steps we don't know we...more

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Apr 04, 2009 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is a beautiful and lyrical non-fiction book that describes the author's life in rural New Hampshire after the birth of one of her children. The problem is that the book is not about anything. It has no plot, no characters, and no development. Mostly it describes nature and animals, with occasional tangents for recipes. There were a few nice moments but it was way too rambling for me. When I look past the content problems I did sense some writing talent so I am curious to see if her fiction...more

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Jun 18, 2008 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not sure what took me so long to read this book-- it's only 223 pages. It was very poetic, which made for a lot of goosebumps and admiration over well-crafted sentences and passages of sheer brilliance. But, killed the element of rapid page turning. Aside from its delicious verbosity, I think I took this memoir at a snail's pace for two reasons: 1.) I expected it to be more about "birth" and motherhood as it is subtitled "A Birth Year" 2.) Instead there were a lot of passages about elk and hedge...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Chanel Earl rated it 2 of 5 stars

There were sentences and even whole paragraphs in this book that I loved, but I didn't love the whole book:

1. I never felt grounded. Was I reading about motherhood, writing, nature? I didn't know what kind of book I was reading. In the end I decided it was a book about whatever Louise Erdrich wanted to write about that day and I felt she was a little indulgent at my expense.

2. Too many adjectives and adverbs. It slowed me down and made the book less fun.

That said, I wish I would have written th...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Maddie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, essays, own

A beautiful set of short essays by Louise Erdrich written or thought out during (more or less) the first year of her youngest daughter's life. I think I will be able to appreciate this collection more once I have children, but I could relate to many of the sentiments and thoughts as a daughter and through other relationships. A very honest look at parenthood but also at being a daughter or granddaughter and the weight and meaning relationships have at every stage in life.

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Jan 13, 2009 Sara Furr rated it 5 of 5 stars

My mother-in-law gave me this book as a gift when it was first published, just about a year after I became a mother. It is a lovely book, one which I passed on to my sister-in-law when she became a mother. It helped me in many ways, strengthening my belief in the power of a mother's prescence to her children.

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Mar 21, 2013 Dot rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dot-s-booklist-2013

I found this to be a very relaxing read. The book is a memoir covering a specific year in the author's life during which she was pregnant with her third child, gave birth, and returned to writing. The prose is lyrical and she includes reflections on pregnancy and motherhood as well as vivid descriptions of her encounters with wild life and her walks through the forest. At times she shares mystical experiences.

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Jan 07, 2013 Erin Kouba rated it 3 of 5 stars

Beautifully written book about woman's thoughts during the first year of her baby's life. She lives in the woods and the animals that she encounters make up a large part of the her writing. Sometimes things are described so beautifully, they don't seem realistic or believable.

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May 24, 2009 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Cathy by: my mom

Lyrical and insightful. I am not a mother and do not want to be, but as I read this book, I thought of my mother and the wonderful relationship we share. Louise's voice is always a balm to me.

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May 01, 2013 Nicole Sulway rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my favourite books of all time. Ever. How does she do it? Write such beautiful, honest, sentences? Reveal everything while saying so very little? Who knows. not me. It's magic.

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Mar 03, 2012 Lester rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of my new favourite books! I am going to try some of the 'All Licorice Recipes' and pass on the name of this book to many friends..with and without children!

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Feb 03, 2013 Am rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lovely meditation on finding a balance between being a young parent in love with your child, and being an artist in love with your craft.

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Jan 24, 2013 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I give this book as a gift to every new mother I know. Such a beautiful rendering of a baby's (and mother's) first year together.

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Aug 12, 2010 Tiff rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very beautifully written! Insightful and honest, I felt a greater appreciation for LIFE after reading this one.

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About Louise Erdrich

Karen Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renais...more Karen Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance.

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Author Biography:

Louise Erdrich is one of the most gifted, prolific, and challenging of contemporary Native American novelists. Born in 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota, she grew up mostly in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Her fiction reflects aspects of her mixed heritage: German through her father, and French and Ojibwa through her mother. She worked at various jobs, such as hoeing sugar beets, farm work, waitressing, short order cooking, lifeguarding, and construction work, before becoming a writer. She attended the Johns Hopkins creative writing program and received fellowships at the McDowell Colony and the Yaddo Colony. After she was named writer-in-residence at Dartmouth, she married professor Michael Dorris and raised several children, some of them adopted. She and Michael became a picture-book husband-and-wife writing team, though they wrote only one truly collaborative novel, The Crown of Columbus (1991).

The Antelope Wife was published in 1998, not long after her separation from Michael and his subsequent suicide. Some reviewers believed they saw in The Antelope Wife the anguish Erdrich must have felt as her marriage crumbled, but she has stated that she is unconscious of having mirrored any real-life events.

She is the author of four previous bestselling andaward-winning novels, including Love Medicine; The Beet Queen; Tracks; and The Bingo Palace. She also has written two collections of poetry, Jacklight, and Baptism of Desire. Her fiction has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle (1984) and The Los Angeles Times (1985), and has been translated into fourteen languages.

Several of her short stories have been selected for O. Henry awards and for inclusion in the annual Best American Short Story anthologies. The Blue Jay's Dance, a memoir of motherhood, was her first nonfiction work, and her children's book, Grandmother's Pigeon, has been published by Hyperion Press. She lives in Minnesota with her children, who help her run a small independent bookstore called The Birchbark.

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Quotes from The Blue Jay's Dance: ...

“Women without children are also the best of mothers,often, with the patience,interest, and saving grace that the constant relationship with children cannot always sustain. I come to crave our talk and our daughters gain precious aunts. Women who are not mothering their own children have the clarity and focus to see deeply into the character of children webbed by family. A child is fortuante who feels witnessed as a peron,outside relationships with parents by another adult.” — 66 people liked it

“So what is wild? What is wilderness? What are dreams but an internal wilderness and what is desire but a wildness of the soul?” — 31 people liked it

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