Synopses & Reviews
An illuminating, entertaining, and provocative immersion in todayas American family, with essays from ZZ Packer, Dan Savage, Min Jin Lee, asha bandele, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, and others, illustrating the changing realities of domestic life.
Edited by bestselling author Rebecca Walker, this anthology invites us to step into the center of a range of different domestic arrangements and take a good look around. From gay adoption to absentee fathers, from open marriages to green-card marriages, the reality of the American household has altered dramatically over the last three decades. With changing values and expectations, fluid gender roles, and a shifting economy, along with increase in infertility, adoption, and the incidence of mixed-race couples, people across the country are redefining the standard arrangement of family life. In a collection of eighteen honest, personal, and deeply affecting essays from an array of writers, One Big Happy Family offers a fresh look at how contemporary families are adapting to this altering reality.
Each writing from the perspective of his or her own unique domestic arrangements and priorities, the authors of these essays explore topics like transracial adoption, bicultural marriage and children, cohousing, equal parenting, and the creation of virtual families. Dan Savage writes about the unexpected responsibilities of open adoption. Jenny Block tells of the pros and cons of her own open marriage. ZZ Packer explores the ramifications of, and her own self-consciousness about, having a mixed-race child. asha bandele writes of her decision to have a child with a man in prison for life. And Min Jin Lee points to the intimacy shared by a mother and her childas hired caregiver.
All of these pieces smartly discuss the various cultural pressures, issues, and realities for families today, in a manner that is inviting and accessibleasometimes humorous, sometimes moving, sometimes shocking, but always fascinating.
Synopsis
Edited by bestselling author Walker, this anthology invites readers to step into the center of a range of different domestic arrangements. In a collection of 18 honest, personal, and deeply affecting essays from an array of writers, "One Big Happy Family" offers a fresh look at how contemporary families are adapting to this altering reality.
Synopsis
More important and timely than ever-a collection of illuminating essays on the shifting definition of the modern American family. Edited by bestselling writer Rebecca Walker, this fascinating exploration of today's American family features essays by prominent voices such as Z.Z. Packer, Dan Savage, Min Jin Lee, Asha Bandele, Neal Pollack, and others, on subjects such as:
• Open marriage
• Gay Marriage
• Green-card marriage
• Interclass Marriage
• Prison marriage
• Househusbands
• Open adoption
• Transracial adoption
• Sperm donation
• Single motherhood
• Polyamory
• Living with in-laws
• Parenting a disabled child
• Bisexual marriage
• Divorce Blended Families
• Bicultural families
• Relationships with child-care providers
• Multiracial families
• Home schooling
• Equal parenting
• Expatriate families
An unabashed celebration of love in all its diversity and complexity, One Big Happy Family is destined to become a definitive text on the modern American family.
About the Author
Rebecca Walker has received numerous awards and accolades for her writing and activism. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and publications; in addition to the international bestseller Black, White, and Jewish, her books include Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence, and the anthologies To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, which has become a standard text in gender studies courses around the world, and What Makes a Man: 22 Writers Imagine the Future. A popular speaker at universities and in business settings, Walker teaches the art of memoir at workshops and writing conferences internationally. She lives in Hawaii.