Primates of Park Avenue

Adventures Inside the Secret Sisterhood of Manhattan Moms

By: Wednesday Martin Ph.D.

Narrated by: Madeleine Maby

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Like an urban Dian Fossey, Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a brilliantly original and witty memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe.

After marrying a man from the Upper East Side and moving to the neighborhood, Wednesday Martin struggled to fit in. Drawing on her background in anthropology and primatology, she tried looking at her new world through that lens, and suddenly things fell into place. She understood the other mothers' snobbiness at school drop-off when she compared them to olive baboons. Her obsessional quest for a Hermes Birkin handbag made sense when she realized other females wielded them to establish dominance in their troop. And so she analyzed tribal migration patterns; display rituals; physical adornment, mutilation, and mating practices; extra-pair copulation; and more. Her conclusions are smart, thought provoking, and hilariously unexpected.

Every city has its Upper East Side, and in Wednesday's memoir listeners everywhere will recognize the strange cultural codes of powerful social hierarchies and the compelling desire to climb them. They will also see that Upper East Side mothers want the same things for their children that all mothers want - safety, happiness, and success - and not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs can protect this ecologically released tribe from the universal experiences of anxiety and loss. When Wednesday's life turns upside down, she learns how deep the bonds of female friendship really are.

Intelligent, funny, and heartfelt, Primates of Park Avenue lifts a veil on a secret, elite world within a world - the exotic, fascinating, and strangely familiar culture of privileged Manhattan motherhood.

©2015 Wednesday Martin. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Interesting almost scientific read

As someone who has studied anthropology I found this book an interesting read. It is simple enough for someone with no background but I the parts I enjoyed most were her 'field notes' on the costuming of her tribe. Overall it's a more cerebral than your average chick lit but would never the less fit loosely into that category.

Tedious yet compelling

Part comedy and part social commentary, this memoir is indulgent and high brow. While its pop culture anecdotes and references are amusing, I found all the anthropologic details a bit too tedious and detailed. The author beleaguers certain points not requiring such long explanations. I would have loved to have heard more personal experience and stories versus broad conclusions but in the end it was entertaining if not predictable.

Witty.

I thought the book moved quickly, the balance of anecdotes to anthropological speak was on point and some of the stories made me laugh out loud. Would recommend. I enjoyed the narrator.

Listened to as recommended from other audible

I did purchase this audible book as it was recommended by the author of another audible book I listened to. At first I wasn't sure if it was what I was expecting and it wasn't, but I did complete it and so glad I did. you really must listen all the way to the end! No spoilers here.

Great book

This book was amazing! Great summer read I loved this book because I dream one day to live in Manhattan. But for the time being I’ll just live upstate NY where I live

Interesting take on the upper east side...

Although the timeline was a little bit jumpy. One minute the writer is walking to her fitness class in the Hamptons and next she is in a car fighting for a parking space to get to the same class she was just walking to.

A little stretched for dramatic moments at times but has real moments as the story moves along.

Entho-tainment at its best

Although the reading was staccato at times, Martin's voice pulls through. This is an ideal introduction to anthropology and a glimpse into the ways elite Mommy's make sense of and navigate their world. It is both critical and generous at times - as good ethnography is. It is not traditional anthro-vetted by IRBs and underscored by dense theory- but it is approachable and entertaining and is quite good ethnography, earning its place alongside monographs ideal for intro to cultural or intro to anthro courses.

If you like the "Housewives of xxx" franchise

Is there anything you would change about this book?

She tried to make it sound like "research" by dropping in anthropological jargon and comparisons. It was a bit annoying, especially in the beginning.
Also, I was not satisfied because she made such a big deal about buying a house on the West Side so her kids could go to a particular PUBLIC school. Then they moved to the East Side to be close to her kids PRIVATE school.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

She became one of "them". She sort of recognized and acknowledged this but it seemed she tried to make herself a bit better than the "primates" she was "researching". A woman who has a separate closet for handbags seems more like them than not.

I could not recognize most of the lifestyle/behavior written about in the book--very foreign to me. Like needing a certain handbag that was expensive but important because it was a significant status symbol. This is why I do NOT watch any "Housewives" shows. Who cares?

What does Madeleine Maby bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She was fine and helped me listen to it.

Could you see Primates of Park Avenue being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

This seems so much the the "Housewives" franchise that you don't need a different show or movie.

Any additional comments?

I can't believe I actually listened to this.

Not exactly what I expected

Not exactly what I expected. It was entertaining enough to listen to but I would say it had a ton more personal experience than I thought it would

Love it!

Having worked on Park Avenue in the heart of the UES I thoroughly enjoyed the authors approach to the culture from the viewpoint of an outsider's observations. Witty, insightful, accurate, and tremendously enjoyable!