false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172551378m/190183.jpg 190183 2 Only children don&#8217;t have to share bedrooms, toys, or the backseat of a car. They don&#8217;t have to share allowances, inheritances, or their parents&#8217; attention. But when they get into trouble, they can&#8217;t just blame their imaginary friends. In <i>Only Child</i>, twenty-one acclaimed writers tell the truth about life without siblings&#8212;the bliss of solitude, the ache of loneliness, and everything in between.<br><br>In this unprecedented collection, writers like Judith Thurman, Kathryn Harrison, John Hodgman, and Peter Ho Davies reflect on the single, transforming episode that defined each of them as an only child. For some it came while lurking around the edges of a friend&#8217;s boisterous family, longing to be part of the chaos. For others, it came in sterile hospital halls, while single-handedly caring for a parent with cancer. They write about the parents who raised them, from the devoted to the dismissive. They describe what it&#8217;s like to be an only child of divorce, an only because of the death of a sibling, an only who reveled in it or an only who didn&#8217;t. <br><br>In candid, poignant, and often hilarious essays, these authors&#8212;including the children of Erica Jong, Alice Walker, and Phyllis Rose&#8212;explore a lifetime of onliness. As adults searching for partners, they are faced with the unique challenge of trying to turn a longtime trio into a quartet. In deciding whether to give junior a sib, they weigh the benefits of producing the friend they never had against the fear that they will not know how to divide their love and attention among multiples. As they watch their parents age, they come face-to-face with the onus of being their family&#8217;s sole historian.<br><br>Whether you&#8217;re an only child curious about how your experiences compare to others&#8217;, the partner or spouse of an only, a parent pondering whether to stop at one, or someone with siblings who&#8217;s always wondered how the other half lives, <i>Only Child</i> offers a look behind the scenes and into the hearts of twenty-one smart and sensitive writers as they reveal the truth about growing up&#8212;and being a grown-up&#8212;solo. 183860 2006 Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joys and Solitary Sorrows of Growing Up Solo total:46|5:11|4:18|3:14|2:3|1:0| 46 175 94 10 3 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 10:06:21 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 03 14:15:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 18:06:03 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 12:38:30 -0800 2008
Some recollections and writing would draw me to tears, some would make me smile...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 16:41:56 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 16:50:32 -0700 2009
I've come across several compilations of this ilk: pieces gathered from writers invited to pontificate on a particular topic, ending up as a fine creative writing hodgepodge but not as a strong contributio...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 09:09:52 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 09:12:05 -0700 2009
Man, I hope I raise her right...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 17:46:32 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 17:46:32 -0800 2008
What surprised me were those stories of onlies who were clearly not happy with the situat...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 13:56:21 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 14:20:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 25 20:35:07 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 20:38:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:43:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 17:10:10 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 00:43:00 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jul 28 11:14:57 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 11:15:35 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Sun Oct 28 09:16:48 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 28 09:17:53 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Oct 31 12:53:23 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 12:53:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Oct 27 18:35:08 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 18:35:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 24 07:31:15 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 07:31:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 22:44:13 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 22:44:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 18:50:50 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 18:50:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 06 20:05:33 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 20:05:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 06 09:39:06 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 09:39:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 15:37:05 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 15:37:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 09 23:56:16 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 23:56:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 09 17:07:10 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 17:07:28 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=190183