In Praise of Single Parents: Mothers and Fathers Embracing the Challenge [Paperback]

Shoshana Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 1994

Alexander weaves her honest, firsthand account as a single mother with the stories of other single parents. She reveals how single parents cope with the dual roles of mother and father, overwhelming financial demands, and a high level of stress both at home and at work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A founding editor of the Utne Reader and a writer, Alexander's relationship with her lover ended while she was pregnant with the now five-year-old Elias. Having had some time to consider her position, she's come up with some wise reflections. Noting that "our own parents by age fifteen would have been as likely to lose a parent through death as a child today is through divorce," she points out that an increasingly fragmented society no longer provides organic supports for single mothers or for the single fathers who now head up 14% of single-parent households. The result of four years' labor, Alexander has drawn on numerous written sources, her own experiences and those of more than 100 interviewees of various circumstances, ages and races who became single parents through death, divorce, abandonment--or insemination. Rather than just framing her interviewees' observations, she weaves them all together in chapters on becoming a single parent, on dealing with its accompanying feelings of guilt and fear, on the often very intense closeness between a single parent and his or her child, and on coping with an old partner and finding a new one. Her voice is thoughtful, loving, wise, useful and one that even the most overwhelmed single parent should try to find time to read. Includes an extensive resource section listing books (for parents and children), support groups, organizations and periodicals.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Facing single parenthood five years ago, Alexander sought a book that would include positive as well as negative aspects of raising a child alone. This is the book she could not find. A founding editor of the Utne Reader , Alexander interviewed more than 100 single parents representing all stages of the parenting process. Their personal accounts, which comprise the bulk of this book, relate the problems and solutions, frustrations and joys of solo child-rearing. Alexander supplements their experiences with information she gleaned from an extensive bibliography of books, articles, and U.S. government statistical sources. Each chapter treats a particular aspect of single parenting, including finances, child care, dating, and nurturing one's self. This easy-to-read book provides encouragement, insight, and practical advice. Chapter bibliographies and lists of helpful organizations offer further assistance. Recommended for libraries serving single parents and those serving counseling programs.
- Carol R. Nelson, Ball State Univ. Lib., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (March 3, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039566991X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395669914
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,385,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Shoshana Tembeck Alexander is the author of In Praise of Single Parents, Women's Ventures/Women's Visions, and, with the Findhorn Community, The Findhorn Garden. She has studied Buddhism since 1970 and has guided various works of several prominent Buddhist authors, including Tara Brach, Sharon Salzberg, and Wes Nisker. She lives in Ashland, Oregon and teaches fiction and non-fiction writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb, sophisticated book, March 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: In Praise of Single Parents: Mothers and Fathers Embracing the Challenge (Paperback)

I highly recommend this beautifully crafted book on single parenthood. The author has written a sophisticated, honest analyses of single parenthood. She incorporates material from her own fascinating life story, intriguing personal stories from other single parents, and intelligent psychosocial analysis as she discuesses the multiple facets of single parenthood. The writing is elegant, but very readable, warm, engaging and inspiring - it literally kept me up late at night for a full week. The book is not at all a typical self-help book (i.e., no list of "to do's" or one message fits all problems). But I found reading the book to be very helpful - deeply satisfying both my emotional needs and intellectual questions. The author makes clear both the sacrifices and unique fulfillments of single parenthood. Among other things, she covers how single parenthood happens (chance or choice); how not to be a victim; guilt and responsibility; transformation and forgiveness; self-care; co-parenting; finances; spirituality and existential issues; childcare and housing; discipline practices and appropriate boundaries; dating; custody issues; and communual support (friends, family, workplace). Really terrific read.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars single parent, August 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Praise of Single Parents: Mothers and Fathers Embracing the Challenge (Paperback)

single parent : psychosocial aspect and adaptatio