false 14405415 868494 190183 0307238067 9780307238061 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172551378m/190183.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172551378s/190183.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/190183.Only_Child_Writers_on_the_Singular_Joys_and_Solitary_Sorrows_of_Growing_Up_Solo 3.81 48 Only Child, twenty-one acclaimed writers tell the truth about life without siblings—the bliss of solitude, the ache of loneliness, and everything in between.

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’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’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’t.

In candid, poignant, and often hilarious essays, these authors—including the children of Erica Jong, Alice Walker, and Phyllis Rose—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’s sole historian.

Whether you’re an only child curious about how your experiences compare to others’, the partner or spouse of an only, a parent pondering whether to stop at one, or someone with siblings who’s always wondered how the other half lives, Only Child 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—and being a grown-up—solo.]]> 110788 3.52 164 57 2006 4 0 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...]]>