One Big Happy Family: 18 Writers Talk About Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, Single Motherhood, and Other Realities of Truly Modern Love Hardcover - 2009

by Walker, Rebecca

An illuminating, entertaining, and provocativeimmersion in today's American family, withessays from ZZ Packer, Dan Savage, Min JinLee, asha bandele, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez,and others, illustrating the changing realitiesof domestic life.

Edited by bestselling author Rebecca Walker, this anthologyinvites us to step into the center of a range ofdifferent domestic arrangements and take a good lookaround. From gay adoption to absentee fathers, fromopen marriages to green-card marriages, the reality ofthe American household has altered dramatically overthe last three decades. With changing values and expectations,fluid gender roles, and a shifting economy,along with increase in infertility, adoption, and the incidenceof mixed-race couples, people across the countryare redefining the standard arrangement of familylife. In a collection of eighteen honest, personal, anddeeply affecting essays from an array of writers, OneBig Happy Family offers a fresh look at how contemporaryfamilies are adapting to this altering reality.

Each writing from the perspective of his or her ownunique domestic arrangements and priorities, the authorsof these essays explore topics like transracialadoption, bicultural marriage and children, cohousing,equal parenting, and the creation of virtual families.Dan Savage writes about the unexpected responsibilitiesof open adoption. Jenny Block tells of the pros andcons of her own open marriage. ZZ Packer exploresthe ramifications of, and her own self-consciousnessabout, having a mixed-race child. asha bandele writesof her decision to have a child with a man in prison forlife. And Min Jin Lee points to the intimacy shared by amother and her child's hired caregiver.

All of these pieces smartly discuss the various culturalpressures, issues, and realities for families today, ina manner that is inviting and accessible sometimeshumorous, sometimes moving, sometimes shocking,but always fascinating.