A thoughtful examination of a topic that affects the lives of millions of “loveless” Americans.
In this nonfiction book, a journalist investigates romantic strains in the Donald Trump era.
According to a 2018 statement posted on the popular dating site eHarmony, “Politics are on the minds of daters more than ever.” Indeed, to many adults looking for romance, writes Terry in this intriguing study of contemporary American life, “more than in any other political era, a vote for Trump told more about the person than their dating app profile would dare admit.” With an academic background in sociology, the author builds on his 2013 book, Marriage War, about America’s declining marriage rates, and offers readers an in-depth glimpse into the nation’s “Loveless Age,” when “singleton” has become a defining trait among late millennials and Generation Zers. In addition to dissecting the politically fraught terrain of dating in a time when Trumpian views continue to reverberate even after his presidency, the book analyzes myriad factors that complicate intimacy in the 21st century, from the “pornification of culture” to Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing. The volume is divided into three parts, with the first section showing how political divisions have taken a central role in stifling romance, from ending marriages to causing users to swipe left on Tinder based on a person’s politics. Part 2 delves into competing ideas among women, exploring those who adhere to “traditional femininity’s” goal of “marrying-up to a ‘good catch’ ” versus individuals who emphasize “boosting women’s opportunities in the modern workworld.” The book’s final section looks at the role of economic change when traditionally male jobs (such as trades or factory work) are in decline and women are emerging as the family breadwinners in a postindustrial economy. A common link across all sections is how Trump tapped into latent misogyny and patriarchal resentment against feminism to build his base as well as how nearly half of America’s White women “would choose to vote for an odious poster-boy of the patriarchy.” Though at times repetitive, the volume is written in an engaging style that blends an accessible narrative with solid, interdisciplinary research.
A thoughtful examination of a topic that affects the lives of millions of “loveless” Americans.Pub Date: July 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66784-123-6
Page Count: 266
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The choir is sure to enjoy this impassioned preaching on familiar progressive themes.
Essays on current political topics by a high-profile actor and activist.
Milano explains in an introduction that she began writing this uneven collection while dealing with a severe case of Covid-19 and suffering from "persistent brain fog.” In the first essay, "On Being Unapologetically Fucked Up,” the author begins by fuming over a February 2019 incident in which she compared MAGA caps worn by high school kids to KKK hoods. She then runs through a grab bag of flash-point news items (police shootings, border crimes, sexual predators in government), deploying the F-bomb with abandon and concluding, "What I know is that fucked up is as fundamental a state of the world as night and day. But I know there is better. I know that ‘less fucked up’ is a state we can live in.” The second essay, "Believe Women," discusses Milano’s seminal role in the MeToo movement; unfortunately, it is similarly conversational in tone and predictable in content. One of the few truly personal essays, "David," about the author's marriage, refutes the old saw about love meaning never having to say you're sorry, replacing it with "Love means you can suggest a national sex strike and your husband doesn't run away screaming." Milano assumes, perhaps rightly, that her audience is composed of followers and fans; perhaps these readers will know what she is talking about in the seemingly allegorical "By Any Other Name," about her bad experience with a certain rosebush. "Holy shit, giving birth sucked," begins one essay. "Words are weird, right?" begins the next. "Welp, this is going to piss some of you off. Hang in there," opens a screed about cancel culture—though she’s entirely correct that “it’s childish, divisive, conceited, and Trumpian to its core.” By the end, however, Milano's intelligence, compassion, integrity, and endurance somewhat compensate for her lack of literary polish.
The choir is sure to enjoy this impassioned preaching on familiar progressive themes.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-18329-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
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