When NYT columnist David Brooks feels compelled to veer away from political commentary to weigh in on a book about child rearing, you know things have become a little nutty.

In today’s column, he calls “Tiger Mother” Amy Chua a “wimp.” Chua insists on her kids practicing music for hours and denies them sleepovers. Brooks asserts that the tougher activity is the sleepover because,

Managing status rivalries, negotiating group dynamics, understanding social norms, navigating the distinction between self and group — these and other social tests impose cognitive demands that blow away any intense tutoring session or a class at Yale.

Debates about Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, are springing up all over the Web (see, for instance, the NYT ‘s “Room for Debate“).

Chua’s book tour begins in California tonight. It should be lively.

Tuesday, Jan 18
VROMAN’S BOOKSTORE
Pasadena, CA

Wednesday, Jan 19
BOOKSMITH
San Francisco, CA

Thursday, Jan 20
KPFA-FM
Berkeley, CA

Friday, Jan 21
ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY
Seattle, WA

Tuesday, Feb 15
BARNES & NOBLE
North Haven, CT

Thursday, Feb 17
PRINTERS ROW
Chicago, IL

Friday, Feb 18
POLITICS & PROSE
Washington, DC

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 at 9:13 am and is filed under 2011/12 - Winter/Spring, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.