ALL JOY AND NO FUN The Paradox of Modern Parenthood

New York journalist Jennifer Senior narrates her exceptional book at breakneck speed, but good phrasing makes everything comprehensible. Her pacing gives this audio vigor and keeps the author’s passion for her topic in view. The book is not a how-to but a satisfying overview of how raising children impacts parents. Before the late 1940s, she says, children were valued mainly as workers; parenting was less burdened by our outsized aspirations for them and emotional attachments to them. She illustrates her insights with absorbing interviews of ordinary parents, stories that give her writing a touching humanity. The research and cultural history she distills provide listeners with a satisfying long view on the real costs and joys of parenting. T.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2014]