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Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | 646.78 FEI | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Logan Area Public Library | 646.78 FEI | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In The Secrets of Happy Families, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler has drawn up a blueprint for modern families -- a new approach to family dynamics, inspired by cutting-edge techniques gathered from experts in the disciplines of science, business, sports, and the military.
Don't worry about family dinner. Let your kids pick their punishments. Ditch the sex talk. Cancel date night.These are just a few of the surprising innovations in this bold first-of-its-kind playbook for today's families. Bestselling author and New York Times family columnist Bruce Feiler found himself squeezed between caring for aging parents and raising his children. So he set out on a three-year journey to find the smartest solutions and the most cutting-edge research about families.
Instead of the usual family "experts," he sought out the most creative minds--from Silicon Valley to the set of Modern Family, from the country's top negotiators to the Green Berets--and asked them what team-building exercises and problem-solving techniques they use with their families. Feiler then tested these ideas with his wife and kids. The result is a fun, original look at how families can draw closer together, complete with 200 never-before-seen best practices.
Feiler's life-changing discoveries include a radical plan to reshape your family in twenty minutes a week, Warren Buffett's guide for setting an allowance, and the Harvard handbook for resolving conflict. The Secrets of Happy Families is a timely, counterintuitive book that answers the questions countless parents are asking: How do we manage the chaos of our lives? How do we teach our kids values? How do we make our family happier?
Written in a charming, accessible style, The Secrets of Happy Families is smart, funny, and fresh, and will forever change how your family lives every day.
Author Notes
Bruce Feiler (born October 25, 1964) is a writer on social issues and, particularly more recently, on religion. Feiler is a native of Savannah, Georgia, and now lives in New York City with his wife and children. His wife sometimes appears as a traveling companion in his books.
Feiler completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University. His latest book, The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me, describes how after recieving a diagnosis of cancer, he asked six men from all phases of his life to be present through the phases of his young daughters¿ lives. (Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
New York Times columnist Feiler (Generation Freedom: The Middle East Uprisings and the Remaking of the Modern World, 2011, etc.) explores new ideas on family dynamics. Impressed by the amount of innovative thinking in the business world about how people work best in small groups and "[t]rend-setting programs from the U.S. military to professional sports" on being resilient in the face of setbacks, the author was also frustrated by the emphasis of psychologists on the happiness of individual family members. For him, this was not just an intellectual pursuit. He and his wife were struggling to balance the needs of their daughters, demanding jobs and elderly parents. Feiler was in search of an answer to the question: "What do happy families do right and how can the rest of us learn to make our families happier?" His quest began in Silicon Valley, where he sat in on a family meeting patterned on agile development, a cutting-edge program popular in the automotive industry that delegates top-down management-authority for getting a job done. Software engineer David Starr had successfully adapted aspects of the program to his own family. Following his lead, Feiler instituted formal weekly meetings and daily quick reviews with his wife and daughters to evaluate how well his family was functioning. Next, they worked on a mission statement for the family (another idea from the corporate world)--"May your first word be adventure and your last word love"--and a celebrity chef suggested making breakfast the family meal. Feiler picked up ideas from many sources, but in the end, he found the secret to a happy family--not in a set of nostrums or procedures, but in flexibility and a willingness to keep trying. A good addition to the self-help bookshelf.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Best-selling author and New York Times columnist Feiler (The Council of Dads; America's Prophet) here sets out to find the best practices for managing the modern family. Feiler consults unconventional resources ranging from savvy business experts to the Green Berets. The result is a smart, funny, and sometimes corny set of strategies that can be used as guidelines for contemporary families. The author reads at a pace that allows the listener to comprehend fully the message while remaining engaged. VERDICT Recommended for individuals interested in personal and/or family development.-Saori Wendy Herman, Southern California Coll. of Optometry Lib., Fullerton (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
