Synopses & Reviews
Former Vice President and bestselling author Al Gore collaborates with his wife, Tipper, on a groundbreaking book about the changing face of the American family
Al and Tipper Gore have long considered family their bedrock. They've also spent many years studying the American family, and now, in this provocative and personal book, they explore the myriad ways in which the idea of family is being redefined.
Over the past two generations, cultural shifts and economic pressures have profoundly affected every family in the nation: balancing work and family now poses a bigger challenge than ever before, day-care and after-school child care programs are too often dangerously inadequate, and new technological advancements have dramatically changed the ways we communicate. But if many of the traditional landmarks by which families formerly steered their course have disappeared, change has also opened up exciting possibilities, yielding an explosion of new family forms and novel solutions to age-old problems.
In this penetrating and moving exploration of the contemporary family landscape, the Gores share stories drawn from their own experiences, as well as introduce us to a dozen other families they have come to know over the years. Combining personal insight and expert opinions, historical and global perspectives, Joined at the Heart identifies an emerging reality-and demonstrates that, in the face of unprecedented change, the inherent need for family is stronger than ever.
Al Gore is the former Vice President of the United States and author of the New York Times bestseller Earth in the Balance. During twenty-five years of public service, he has made the family a priority by fighting for programs and policies that are responsive to the needs of families and communities. He is now a professor at both Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University, where he teaches "Family-Centered Community Building."
Tipper Gore is an advocate for mental health awareness and served as an Adviser to the President on Mental Health Policy from 1993 to 2001. She worked as a photojournalist for the Tennessean and published a collection of her photographs, Picture This, in 1996. Her first book, Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society, was published in 1987.
For the past eleven years, the Gores have organized an annual two-day forum called Family
Re-Union. They have four children and two grandchildren, and live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Al and Tipper Gore have long considered family their bedrock. They have also spent many years studying the American family, and now, in this 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 personal experience, and in chapters on such issues as communication, money, play, and resilience, they provide invaluable insight into the ways families are respondingoften with astonishing courage and graceto the extraordinary challenges they face every day.
Combining narrative, expert opinion, and analysis, Al and Tipper Gore have provided an illuminating portrait of the new American family. Joined at the Heart identifies an important emerging realityand demonstrates that, in the face of unprecedented change, our fundamental need for family is stronger than ever.
"In this wise and clear-eyed book, Al and Tipper Gore see all familiessingle parent, blended, gay and lesbian, dual-earner, and breadwinner-homemakeras works in progress. Warmly appreciative of the diversity of ways we are joined at the heart, this book is a call to restore the social ecology on which the American family depends."Arlie Russell Hochschild, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, and author of The Time Bind
"An earnest and sympathetic account of the strains on the modern American family . . . Joined at the Heart talks about the struggle to balance work and family, to build marriages that last, to blend stepchildren and stepparents into a supportive whole, to deal with disability and illness among children and aged parents when everybody is working outside the home . . . In the last chapter the Gores talk about the public policy implications of the book, like the need for universal preschool and more assistance for long-term care."Robin Toner, The New York Times Book Review
"In this wise and clear-eyed book, Al and Tipper Gore see all familiessingle parent, blended, gay and lesbian, dual-earner, and breadwinner-homemakeras works in progress. Warmly appreciative of the diversity of ways we are joined at the heart, this book is a call to restore the social ecology on which the American family depends."Arlie Russell Hochschild, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, and author of The Time Bind
"A remarkable blend of personal memoir, ethnography and research findings. This inspiring, heart-warming, and compelling book will redirect the American conversation away from sterile moralizing toward an approach based on the realism, respect and wisdom that families deserve."Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology, Boston College, and author of The Overworked American
"This is a warm and wise exploration of the new terrain of family life that also offers practical and compassionate recommendations about how individuals, communities and governments can help support the family. Al and Tipper Gore's love of family is infectious, and their book makes us believe that we can all be joined at the heart."Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Professor of Sociology, University of Washington, and author of Love Between Equals
"This ambitious and hopeful book radiates faith that ordinary people can build strong lives and good communities. The Gores invite everyone to the table, and their circle of caring extends to the whole human family."Dr. Mary Pipher, author of The Middle of Everywhere and Reviving Ophelia
"When politicians speak of family values, I'm often discouraged by how drastically they've missed the boat regarding the real problems American families face: conflicts between the demands of work and home, intolerance of family groups that don't fit the standard mold, and a frightening scarcity of such crucial resources as time, money, housing and good child care. This book is different. It addresses the concerns that truly matter to healthy family life, and is honest about our culture's strengths and weaknesses in supportin
Review
"This ambitious and hopeful book radiates faith that ordinary people can build strong lives and good communities. The Gores invite everyone to the table, and their circle of caring extends to the whole human family."
Dr. Mary Pipher, author of The Middle of Everywhere and Reviving Ophelia
Review
"An extraordinary achievement. The Gores' experience and vision, plus their comprehensive research, make Joined at the Heart a must for families. As entertaining as it is accessible, this book reaches an optimistic conclusion: the family is resilient and will, as it always has, adapt to this new era."
Isabel Allende, author of Daughter of Fortune
Review
"This engaging book is serious in intent and playful in execution. Al and Tipper Gore use the changing, challenged American family as a prism to examine what's going well in our country and what could be going much, much better."
Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone
Review
"In this wise and clear-eyed book, Al and Tipper Gore see all families single-parent, blended, gay and lesbian, dual-earner, and breadwinner-homemaker as works in progress. Warmly appreciative of the diversity of ways we are joined at the heart, this book is a call to restore the social ecology on which the American family depends."
Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Time Bind
Review
"When politicians speak of family values, I'm often discouraged by how drastically they've missed the boat regarding the real problems American families face: conflicts between the demands of work and home, intolerance of family groups that don't fit the standard mold, and a frightening scarcity of such crucial resources as time, money, housing and good child care. This book is different. It addresses the concerns that truly matter to healthy family life, and is honest about our culture's strengths and weaknesses in supporting our children's rearing. This book makes you want to go hug your kids and possibly reorganize your life a little and then maybe even reorganize your world."
Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible
Review
"This is a warm and wise exploration of the new terrain of family life that also offers practical and compassionate recommendations about how individuals, communities, and governments can help support the family. Al and Tipper Gore's love of family is infectious, and their book makes us believe that we can all be joined at the heart."
Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D, author of Love Between Equals
Review
"Here is America's heart and soul embodied in the connected lives of its families stories of our citizens told sensitively and thoughtfully by two observers who have together lived the moral and psychological message their book's title means to convey."
Robert Coles, author of The Moral Life of Children
Review
"A remarkable blend of personal memoir, ethnography, and research findings. This inspiring, heartwarming, and compelling book will redirect the American conversation away from sterile moralizing toward an approach based on the realism, respect, and wisdom that families deserve."
Juliet Schor, professor of sociology, Boston College, and author of The Overworked American
Synopsis
Al and Tipper Gore have long considered family their bedrock. Now, in this provocative and personal book, they explore the myriad ways in which the idea of family is being redefined in America.
Over the past two generations, cultural shifts and economic pressures have profoundly affected every family in the nation: balancing work and family now poses more of a challenge than ever, day care and after-school child-care programs are often dangerously inadequate, and technological advancements have dramatically changed the ways we communicate. But change has also opened up exciting possibilities, yielding an explosion of new family forms and novel solutions to age-old problems.
In this penetrating and moving exploration of the contemporary family landscape, the Gores share stories drawn from their own experiences and those of a dozen other families they have come to know over the years. Combining personal insight and expert opinions, historical and global perspectives, Joined at the Heart identifies an emerging reality-and demonstrates that the human need for family is stronger than ever.
About the Author
Al Gore is the former Vice President of the United States and author of the
New York Times bestseller
Earth in the Balance. During twenty-five years of public service, he has made the family a priority by fighting for programs and policies that are responsive to the needs of families and communities. He is now a professor at both Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University, where he teaches "Family-Centered Community Building."
Tipper Gore is an advocate for mental health awareness and served as an Adviser to the President on Mental Health Policy from 1993 to 2001. She worked as a photojournalist for the Tennessean and published a collection of her photographs, Picture This, in 1996. Her first book, Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society, was published in 1987.
For the past eleven years, the Gores have organized an annual two-day forum called Family
Re-Union. They have four children and two grandchildren, and live in Nashville, Tennessee.