 | | Additional Information about Joined at the Heart
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| Synopsis | Al and Tipper Gore discuss what works and what doesn't for families in America in the 21st century, based on their direct knowledge of families they know or have met. They share stories of American families that are struggling to make it, and they tell of their own efforts. The Gores end the book with a discussion of public policy.
| | Size | | Length: | 416 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in. | | Width: | 6.5 in. | | Thickness: | 1.4 in. | | Weight: | 25.6 oz. |
| | Publisher's Note | Al and Tipper Gore have long considered family their bedrock. They have also spent many years studying the American family, and now, in this provocative and personal book, they explore the myriad ways in which the family is being redefined.
Over the past two generations, new economic pressures, profound cultural changes, and rapid demographic shifts have fundamentally altered the way we live our lives. The work week is longer, balancing work and family is harder than ever, and finding high-quality child and elder care is getting increasingly difficult. But if American families can no longer rely on many of the traditional landmarks by which they formerly steered their course, they are finding creative new ways to define, enrich, and honor their commitment to the most essential of all relationships.
As they explore the changing nature of the contemporary family, the Gores introduce us to a dozen families they have come to know over the years. Among others, we meet a blended family with six children born to four sets of parents; an interracial family navigating an increasingly accepting world; a gay couple raising two adopted boys; and a divorced couple who organize their lives around caring for their disabled son. The Gores also share stories drawn from their own experiences, and in chapters on such issues as communication, money, play, and resilience, they provide invaluable insight into the ways families are responding -- often with astonishing courage and grace -- to the extraordinary challenges they face every day.
Combining dramatic narrative, expert opinion, and incisive analysis, Al and Tipper Gore have provided an illuminating and often moving portrait of the new American family. Joined at the Heart identifies an important emerging reality -- and demonstrates that, in the face of unprecedented change, our fundamental need for family is stronger than ever.
| | Industry reviews | "At face value, this is an earnest and sympathetic account of the strains on the modern American family....It can be preachy and didactic...But the Gores deserve credit for simply paying attention to what has become the unmentionable elephant in the room of Washington politics: that American families are not what they were."
New York Times Book Review - Robin Toner (11/17/2002)
"Unlike many laments over the deterioration of domestic ties, JOINED AT THE HEART, is relentlessly upbeat."
New York Review of Books - Andrew Hacker (12/05/2002)
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| | The seller, onegreypony, assumes full responsibility for the content of this listing and the item offered.
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