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Wednesday Martin
Born
Wendy K. Martin
NationalityAmerican

Wendy Martin,[1][2][3] long known as Wednesday Martin, is an American author, blogger, and commenter on parenting, step-parenting, and popular culture. She has written for Psychology Today, the New York Post, The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Glamour, TIME and The Huffington Post.[4] She is the author of three books: the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Primates of Park Avenue[5] [6] [7] and Stepmonster, and Marlene Dietrich. Movie rights to Primates of Park Avenue were acquired by MGM[8] and Entertainment Weekly has announced its dream cast.[9] To promote two of her books, she has commented on CNN, NPR, BBC radio, Fox News, and Weekend Today.[10][11][12][13]

Biography

Martin grew up in Michigan,[14] attended the University of Michigan[when?] and received a doctorate in comparative literature and cultural studies[15] from Yale University in 1996.[11][12]

Martin taught cultural studies and literature at Yale,[when?] The New School for Social Research and Baruch College.[when?][11][12] She worked in qualitative market research and advertising for several years.[when?][11][12]

Works

She is the author of Marlene Dietrich (Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians)[16] Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do[17][10][18][19][20][11][12] which "in the US, has become widely regarded as the 'go to' source for stepmothers, stepchildren, and therapists"[10] and Primates of Park Avenue, about parenting on the Upper East Side.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

While researching Primates of Park Avenue Martin uncovered a controversy surrounding wealthy park-goers hiring tour guides with disabilities to shorten their families' waits at Walt Disney World.[13][28][29][30]

Praise and Criticism

The New York Times called Primates of Park Avenue “an amusing, perceptive and, at times thrillingly evil takedown of upper-class culture.”[31] The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Wednesday Martin had a delicious idea: Treat her wealthy Park Avenue neighbors like the subjects of an anthropological expedition,” and noted the device as a “clever conceit.”[32] Time.com reviewed it as a “gentle and generous analysis of her former neighbors and their mothering abilities.”[33] Library Journal gave it a starred review.[34]

The New York Post has asserted that based on discrepancies between Martin's published account and public records, Primates of Park Avenue is "full of lies."[35][36] The public editor of The New York Times, Margaret Sullivan, characterized Martin's description of the "wife bonus," whereby "Upper East Side husbands give monetary rewards to their spouses for such accomplishments as getting the children into top schools," as "disputed." [37] According to the Times, the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, will "append a note to future editions of the book . . . clarifying that some of the memoir’s details and chronologies were changed."[38] The Washington Post has cast additional doubt on some of the book's assertions.[39][40]

Martin has noted that “mothers and wealth are tremendous hot button topics” [41] and stands by the accuracy of Primates of Park Avenue.[42] She has responded on her blog, writing in part: “Primates of Park Avenue describes my personal experiences on the Upper East Side both while I lived there and while my children were in programs there over a period of six years. Potentially identifying details were altered, including some timeframes left unspecified and chronologies adjusted, in order to protect the identities of others and to explore issues by topic.” [43][44]

Personal life

Martin is married to Joel Moser, a lawyer, financier, chief executive officer and adjunct professor at Columbia University, with whom she has two sons, one born in 2001 and the other in 2007.[45][46][47][48] She has two step-daughters, children of Moser's first marriage.[18]

References

  1. ^ Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein (June 7, 2015). "Upper East Side housewife's tell-all book is full of lies". New York Post. Retrieved June 8, 2015. Author Wednesday Martin — whose real first name is Wendy —...
  2. ^ Annie Lowrey (June 2015). "At Lunch With the Author Who Introduced the Upper East Side 'Wife Bonus'". New York (magazine). Retrieved June 8, 2015. She grew up as Wendy Martin...
  3. ^ Gina Barreca (May 27, 2015). "The $150,000 Purse And Other 'Wife Bonuses'". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 8, 2015. The author "Wednesday" Martin (her real name is Wendy, but I guess she liked the Addams Family)...
  4. ^ "Wednesday Martin". Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  5. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-06-21/e-book-nonfiction/list.html
  6. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-06-21/combined-print-and-e-book-nonfiction/list.html
  7. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-06-21/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html
  8. ^ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/15/movie-rights-contentious-memoir-primates-park-avenue-acquired-mgm
  9. ^ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/16/primates-of-park-avenue-casting?xid=IFT-Section
  10. ^ a b c Waterlow, Lucy. "We're not stepmonsters". Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Wednesday Martin". Psychology Today. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e "About Wednesday Martin". Wednesday Martin's own website, wednesdaymartin.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  13. ^ a b Palmieri, Tara. "Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World". New York Post. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  14. ^ http://wednesdaymartin.com/blog/its-summer-are-your-kids-at-camp/
  15. ^ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/15/movie-rights-contentious-memoir-primates-park-avenue-acquired-mgm
  16. ^ http://www.marlene.com/books.html
  17. ^ Rumbelow, Helen. "The wicked stepmother bites back". The Times. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  18. ^ a b Havrilesky, Heather. "Beware the stepmonster!". Salon. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  19. ^ Borchard, Therese. "Stepmonster: 8 Reason Why Stepmothers Are Prone to Depression". Psychology Today. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  20. ^ Minoli, Giselle (March 2012). "An Interview with Wednesday Martin". StepMom Magazin. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  21. ^ "Rich Housewives Go Under The Microscope In 'Primates Of Park Avenue'". NPR. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  22. ^ Moscatello, Caitlin. "Can a Birkin Steal Your Soul?". Glamour. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  23. ^ Griffith, Carson. "We Asked 10 Real U.E.S. Mommas (and One Husband) About the Primates of Park Avenue". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  24. ^ Luscombe, Belinda. "What We Can Learn From Insanely Rich Parents". Time. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  25. ^ Maslin, Janet. "Review: 'Primates of Park Avenue,' Making Fun of the Rich". New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  26. ^ Rumbelow, Helen. "Rich, thin and anxious in the New York and London manicured Mummy tribe". The Times. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  27. ^ Martin, Wednesday. "Poor Little Rich Women". New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  28. ^ Rossen, Jeff. "Undercover at Disney: 'Deplorable' scheme to skip lines". Today. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  29. ^ Levs, Josh. "Disney World vows action after report of wealthy hiring disabled to skip lines". CNN. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  30. ^ Pavia, Will. "Manhattan rich take mickey out of Disney by buying disabled access". The Times. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  31. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/books/review/primates-of-park-avenue-a-memoir-by-wednesday-martin.html?_r=0
  32. ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-prj-primates-of-park-avenue-wednesday-martin-20150611-story.html
  33. ^ http://time.com/3903346/wife-bonus-primates-park-avenue/?xid=IFT-Trending
  34. ^ http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2015/04/collection-development/memoir-short-takes/other-peoples-stories-memoir/
  35. ^ Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein (June 7, 2015). "Upper East Side housewife's tell-all book is full of lies". New York Post. Retrieved June 8, 2015. Author Wednesday Martin — whose real first name is Wendy —...
  36. ^ "Validity of Upper East Side housewife's tell-all book questioned". News.com.au. June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  37. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/public-editor/new-york-times-public-editor-margaret-sullivan-on-primates-of-park-avenue-coverage.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0
  38. ^ Hiroko Tabuchi (June 7, 2015). "Publisher to Put Asterisk on 'Primates of Park Avenue'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  39. ^ Amy Argetsinger (June 8, 2015). "Forget the 'wife bonus.' How much more of 'Primates of Park Avenue' do we really believe?". The Washington Post Style Blog. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  40. ^ Ben Rooney (June 8, 2015). "Book on New York City's glamorous wives adds disclaimer". CNNMoney. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  41. ^ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/16/wife-bonus-author-my-critics-hate-women.html
  42. ^ http://www.myfoxny.com/Clip/11584135/good-day-book-club-primates-of-park-avenue
  43. ^ http://wednesdaymartin.com/blog/about-primates/
  44. ^ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/15/movie-rights-contentious-memoir-primates-park-avenue-acquired-mgm
  45. ^ "Shocker: Upper East Side "Wife Bonus" Book Reportedly Filled With Lies". Gothamist. June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015. Among the most glaring errors: Martin's first son was born in 2001 and her second was born in 2007, the year she moved from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side. Martin talks about raising two boys on the UES throughout the book. She writes that she attended exercise classes at Physique 57 to lose her baby weight after her second son's birth. The Post claims that gym did not exist when she claims to have exercised there.
  46. ^ "Joel Moser". Columbia University. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  47. ^ Screws, Nic; Gordon, Amanda; Ankari, Moti. "Celebrity and Business Power Couples Pick the Perfect Valentine's Day Gifts". Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  48. ^ http://www.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/joseph-martin.9137
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