Authors@Google: Ayelet Waldman

In our mothers day there were good mothers, neglectful mothers, and occasionally great mothers. Today we have only Bad Mothers. If you work, youre neglectful; if you stay home, youre smothering. If you discipline, youre buying them a spot on the shrinks couch; if you let them run wild, they will be into drugs by seventh grade. If you buy organic, youre spending their college fund; if you dont, youre risking all sorts of allergies and illnesses. Is it any wonder so many women refer to themselves at one time or another as a bad mother? Ayelet Waldman says its time for women to get over it and get on with it, in a book that is sure to spark the same level of controversy as her now legendary Modern Love piece, in which she confessed to loving her husband more than her children. Covering topics as diverse as the hysteria of competitive parenting (Whose toddler can recite the planets in order from the sun?), the relentless pursuits of the Bad Mother police, balancing the work-family dynamic, and the bane of every mothers existence (homework, that is), Bad Mother illuminates the anxieties that riddle motherhood today, while providing women with the encouragement they need to give themselves a break.

Authors@Google: Paolo Bacigalupi

Paolo Bacigalupi visits Google's San Francisco office to present his book "The Windup Girl". This event took place on May 26, 2010, as part of the Authors@Google series. Noted short story writer Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories) proves equally adept at novel length in this grim but beautifully written tale of Bangkok struggling for survival in a post-oil era of rising sea levels and out-of-control mutation. This complex, literate and intensely felt tale, which recalls both William Gibson and Ian McDonald at their very best, will garner Bacigalupi significant critical attention and is clearly one of the finest science fiction novels of the year. In a future Thailand, calories are the greatest commodity. Anderson is a calorie-man whose true objective is to discover new food sources that his company can exploit. His secretary, Hock Seng, is a refugee from China seeking to ensure his future. Jaidee is an officer of the Environmental Ministry known for upholding regulations rather than accepting bribes. His partner, Kanya, is torn between respect for Jaidee and hatred for the agency that destroyed her childhood home. Emiko is a windup, an engineered and despised creation, discarded by her master and now subject to brutality by her patron. The actions of these characters set in motion events that could destroy the country. Bacigalupi has created a compelling, if bleak, society in which corruption, betrayal, and despair are commonplace, and more positive behavior and ...