Little Labors Author:Rivka Galchen Rivka Galchen?s Little Labors is a droll and dazzling compendium of observations, stories, lists, and brief essays about babies and literatureSei Shonagon?s Pillow Book?a key inspiration for Rivka Galchen?s new book?contains a list of ?Things That Make One Nervous.? And wouldn?t the blessed event top almost anyone?s list?Little Labors is a slant... more »ed, enchanted literary miscellany. Varying in length from just a sentence or paragraph to a several-page story or essay, Galchen?s puzzle pieces assemble into a shining, unpredictable, mordant picture of the ordinary-extraordinary nature of babies and literature. Anecdotal or analytic, each part opens up an odd and tender world of wonder. The 47 Ronin; the black magic of maternal love; babies morphing from pumas to chickens; the quasi-repellent concept of ?women writers?; origami-ophilia in Oklahoma as a gateway drug to a lifelong obsession with Japan; discussions of favorite passages from the Heian masterpieces Genji and The Pillow Book; the frightening prevalence of orange as today?s new chic color for baby gifts; Frankenstein as a sort of baby; babies gold mines; babies as tiny Godzillas ?Little Labors?atomized and exploratory, conceptually byzantine and freshly forthright?delights.« less