Only Child

Аннотация

Only children dont have to share bedrooms, toys, or the backseat of a car. They dont have to share allowances, inheritances, or their parents attention. But when they get into trouble, they cant just blame their imaginary friends. In Only Child, twenty-one acclaimed writers tell the truth about life without siblingsthe 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 friends 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 its 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 didnt. In candid, poignant, and often hilarious essays, these authorsincluding the children of Erica Jong, Alice Walker, and Phyllis Roseexplore 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 familys sole historian.Whether youre 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 whos 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 upand being a grown-upsolo.From the Hardcover edition.