Author Description

Red Diapers is the first collection of autobiographical writings by children of American communists. These first-person memoirs, short stories, and poems reflect red diaper baby experiences spanning generations, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and geographical areas. This multi-author account of how it felt and what it meant to grow up Communist in twentieth-century America gives insight into the joys and perils of living in a subculture defined by its opposition to society's most deeply held values. Some of the works speak of fond memories of family activism, others recall a past full of ambivalence and pain. In disparate voices, the contributors elaborate on coming to terms with a political inheritance of radical politics.