From This Day Forward [Hardcover]

Cokie Roberts (Author), Steven V. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2000

Journalists Cokie and Steve Roberts take a look at the institution of marriage American style, including their own match of thirty-three years, in this compelling and wise new book that is destined to be another bestseller

With a narrative structure similar to We Are Our Mothers' Daughters, Cokie and Steve Roberts use personal recollections as a springboard for the discussion of larger issues such as marriage, love, and family. When Cokie and Steve Roberts got married, some "friends" said it wouldn't last-just because she's Catholic and he's Jewish. Proving the doubters wrong, they have been married for over thirty years and have a few pieces of advice. Cokie and Steve will discuss issues from their own marriage as well as open a window onto famous unions in history, as seen from their different perspectives as husband and wife. Those stories tell a tale of the particular strengths and weaknesses of marriage in America and show the foundation of marriage as one that's undergone tremendous amounts of change while remaining fundamentally the same. With a narrative structure similar to We Are Our Mothers' Daughters, Cokie and Steve Roberts use personal recollections as a springboard for the discussion of larger issues such as marriage, love, and family. When Cokie and Steve Roberts got married, some "friends" said it wouldn't last-just because she's Catholic and he's Jewish. Proving the doubters wrong, they have been married for over thirty years and have a few pieces of advice. Cokie and Steve will discuss issues from their own marriage as well as open a window onto famous unions in history, as seen from their different perspectives as husband and wife. Those stories tell a tale of the particular strengths and weaknesses of marriage in America and show the foundation of marriage as one that's undergone tremendous amounts of change while remaining fundamentally the same.With a narrative structure similar to We Are Our Mothers' Daughters, Cokie and Steve Roberts use personal recollections as a springboard for the discussion of larger issues such as marriage, love, and family. When Cokie and Steve Roberts got married, some "friends" said it wouldn't last-just because she's Catholic and he's Jewish. Proving the doubters wrong, they have been married for over thirty years and have a few pieces of advice. Cokie and Steve will discuss issues from their own marriage as well as open a window onto famous unions in history, as seen from their different perspectives as husband and wife. Those stories tell a tale of the particular strengths and weaknesses of marriage in America and show the foundation of marriage as one that's undergone tremendous amounts of change while remaining fundamentally the same.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Two noted journalists on marriageAincluding their 33-year union.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Instructive and inspiring.” (New York Times Book Review )

“More thoughtful than the usual celebrity autobiography.” (Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (January 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688168914
• ISBN-13: 978-0688168919
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,788,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and serves as senior news analyst for National Public Radio. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program, THIS WEEK.

In addition to broadcasting, Roberts, along with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, writes a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. The Robertses are also contributing editors to USA MAGAZINE, and together they wrote FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, an account of their more than thirty-five-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto the New York Times bestseller list, following a six-month run on the list by Cokie Roberts's other book, WE ARE OUR MOTHERS' DAUGHTERS.

She is the mother of two and grandmother of four.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

166 of 174 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A salute to love and marriage---American style!, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: From This Day Forward (Hardcover)

In her #1 New York Times bestseller, We Are Our Mothers Daughters, Cokie Roberts, co-anchor of ABC's This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, examined the nature of women's roles, from mother to mechanic, sister to soldier through the illuminating lens of personal experience. Written with her characteristic disarming humor and affectionate intelligence, Cokie created an instant classic that hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list where it remained for an astounding 26 weeks. Now, Cokie, who has been hailed by USA Today as a "custodian of time-honored values" joins forces with her husband of thirty-three years, political analyst and college professor Steve Roberts with FROM THIS DAY FORWARD an in-depth look at the institution of marriage, American-style. Part chronicle of their own courtship, marriage and family life, and part social/historical examination of marriage as an institution, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD uses the Roberts' personal stories as a springboard for discussing larger issues of love and marriage, work and family, parents and children. The book addresses such questions as: how in an age in which 50% of all marriages fail, why does the idea of marriage still endure, and what makes for ties that truly bind? Is it possible for marriage to flourish in a fractured culture in which families live thousands of miles apart? As the generations-old gate-keepers of family, religion and community fade away, what will take their place as the safeguards and strongholds of marriage? These issues and more are at the heart of this compelling look at the state of our unions.

Told in both Cokie's and Steve's words, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD offers a fascinating, intimate portrait of their own journey together, from their courtship in the early 1960's-a time when people married right out of college as a matter of course-through their days overseas, balancing two careers and the demands of family in the turbulent 1970's, to their status today as "long-marrieds" with married children of their own. They reveal candid snapshots of their relationship-from how they fell in love, to how they approached parenting with two careers, to how they worked through the conflicting desires and expectations that test every marriage.

Cokie and Steve also share stories of other American marriages: pioneers, slaves, immigrants, and Holocaust survivors. There is also a look at the surprising marriage of John and Abigail Adams, whose letters to each other reveal painful absences, heartbreaking tragedies, warm entreaties and wickedly funny, blisteringly honest exchanges. These extraordinary accounts show the universality of marriage-that cultural forces may change, but affairs of the heart do not.

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD celebrates modern marriage with all its glories and flaws and turns a warm, embracing spotlight on the issues confronting today's couples who are determined to have and to hold from this day forward. As Cokie and Steve conclude, "Marriage is an act of faith, as well as hope...an unlimited commitment to an unknowable partner." Filled with sage advice and written in a winning, fireside-chat style, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD is ultimately the story of all husbands and wives, the way they support each other and yet continue to grow and change as individuals.

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll enjoy this book. You'll laugh and you'll cry over it., February 26, 2000

By 

Ed Brylawski (Milford PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From This Day Forward (Hardcover)

This is refreshing book about two respected journalists, radio and TV personalities and their lives, their family relationships, marriage, children, backgrounds and parents. But, they add to the book's interest by cleverly weaving into the fabric, historical research, stories about other couples in other times and situations ranging from the colonial period, to the life-and-death struggles of African American slaves, homesteaders of the American wild west, and European immigrants escaping the holocaust. The authors have used a unusual conversational dialog style, with occasional interruptions, as would be when couples talk, and the dialog includes many of Cokie's sharp-witted and hilarious one liners. As they juxtapose their own Cokie and Steve paragraphs, you feel as if you are listening in. This book will be popular for the same reasons as "Forest Gump" was popular. Steve and Cokie let you into their thoughts and lives with a seldom-achieved wit, style, and clarity. And they do it with panache, avoiding the embarrasing intimacy of a revealing "tell-all"---President Clinton's paramours might benefit from a writing course from Professor Roberts. You won't want to put the book down, and you'll want to hug your mate or your best friend after you finish. Its easy to recognize, and to laugh and to cry about many of the anecdotes the Roberts describe, especially if you are in Cokie and Steve's generation, or are, or have been married, or have had children, or travelled abroad, or lived far away from family.

75 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars review of From This Day Forward, January 27, 2000

By 

jessica Gribetz (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From This Day Forward (Hardcover)

Having read and loved WE ARE OUR MOTHERS' DAUGHTERS, I quickly rushed out and bought this new one and enjoyed it even more. The description of their marriage was fascinating enough, but then to read about other marriages in history as well as contemporary ones, really made it a unique reading experience. I urge everyone to buy several copies of this book--for themselves and to give to loved ones.