Customer Reviews

From This Day Forward

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I received this book as a birthday gift yesterday - simply could not put it down. Possibly this results from my having followed these two people for many years (am a bit of a "political person"); but the thrust of the story is about kindness, friendship, honoring one's values and family, and, particularly, humor as an integral part of life! It certainly is not easy to combine marriage, family and work; the Roberts family appears to have made a blend of these an asset to all instead of a burden to any. Having lost the "other half" of my marriage a few years ago, the book only increased the joy in remembering the past and the special friendship (which is, after all, the basis of any good marriage). I do hope Cokie and Steve will consider a sequel: perhaps, as Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation", engendered so many responses, this one will do the same. There must be many others "out there" who genuinely enjoy a love story which carries so many good lessons about life and commitment in our society. A must read for any considering marriage (still a great institution).

After reading "From This Day Forward" I wanted to learn more about American marriages like John and Abigail Adams. I also developed a renewed hope that interfaith marriages can and do work after reading how Cokie and Steve's worked so beautifully.

I found the book very easy to read and enjoyed the way they interspersed their own personal stories with marriage stories from American history. Of particular interest were the stories about slave marriages. It is unbelievable what sacrifices were made for the hope of sharing one's life with another.

Although my parents have remained married for over 35 years, I have many friends from divorced or blended families and it was fascinating to see a common thread through so many of the stories.

Having always seen Cokie and Steve in a professional setting, it was wonderful and refreshing to realize that they are as down to earth as anyone else I know. The personal stories that they share give you a real insight into their marriage and lives. Thank you Cokie and Steve.

I look forward to reading another book by Cokie and Steve very soon.

I found this book to be worth the time spent reading it because of the insights they share about growing up in the 60's and becoming people of the 90's and the next century. Steve and Cokie Roberts grew up in vastly different East Coast households, but they were both from the "old" east coast. When as relative newlyweds they encounter the "new" culture of California and all its symbols - free love, feminism, war protests, etc. - their lives become a mirror in which we aging "boomers" can see ourselves.

Cokie Roberts may be the daughter of political patricians but she nevertheless had to learn to cope with the changing assumptions about women as wives, mothers and professionals. When her career's zenith eclipses Steve's in the later part of the book she confronts issues that many of her younger, but nevertheless fellow "boomers" are facing today. Following Cokie Roberts example, the "me" generation could learn that the the whole (in this case, family) is worth more than simply the sum of the individual parts.

Interestingly, the solutions to the "problem" of religiously mixed marriage Steve and Cokie devise are good templates for any type of "mixed" marriage today - mixed by race, ethnicity, religion, divorce and remarriage, or adoption. The inclusion of several stories about divorces they have known gives more weight to their ultimate hypothesis about marriage: "[they] are better people together than [they] are separately."

Okay, so sometimes it's a bit sentimental and "gushy" but that's part of the charm of this book. You feel the authors are talking to you as if they were in your living room chatting casually. The book isn't a prescription about "how to" have a successful marriage (which they achieved,apparently); nor is it a proscription against brekaing up bad marriages. It is friends talking with friends about their personal successes and failures with candidness and some measure of self-evaluation. I, for one, am glad the Roberts' invited me over for the evening.

I received this book just before I was married and thought it was a wonderful gift for the occasion. The conversational style in which it is written makes you feel as if you are in Steve and Cokie's living room sharing their memories. The dialogue is interspersed with researched information about marraige customs from other cultures and other times. It drives home the point that all marraiges are not alike and there are no standards that yours should be held to, other than your own.

In "From This Day Forward", Cokie and Steve Roberts share insights and stories drawn from their marriage, including their own changing assumptions as the times changed. Interspersed with this are essays on the state of American marriage in history. Of particular interest was the discussion on the whole interfaith issue; how hard both of them worked to maintain traditions on both sides; also, the shift in both of their perspective's on both women's and men's roles in marriage.

They also discuss such topics as divorce and blended families. The chapter on divorce, in particular, seemed slightly sensationalized, and the examples extreme. Both of the Roberts' are from the baby-boom generation, so for those not in this generation, this might not be as interesting or understandable. It also raises the question as how those with fewer economic resources might achieve equality and parity in their marriages. However, this was, overall, a very interesting and readable book.

This is a wonderfully intelligent and inspiring book. I'm not married and don't plan to be, but I celebrate the relationship that has grown and endured. I personally distrust a "reviewer" that seems to base his or her comments on a review that they've read. Trust the rest of us -- it's a interesting story and a great read!

Cokie and Steve Roberts opened themselves and their lives to us in this telling story about their own 33 plus year marriage. As a single woman it was wonderful to read about the compromises that each of them made and make in order to make the marriage succeed. They share honest and frank discussions about situations they had to work through and compromise on in their own marriage.

I want to thank Cokie and Steve for letting us into their lives. Looking forward to the next book!