The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony

by Pamela Paul

Book Overview

The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony is a pioneering study of first marriages lasting five years or less and ending without children, and of the changing face of matrimony in America.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375505407
• ISBN13: 9780375505409
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

This book is right on the money.

I had no words to explain the failure of my own Gen X 2 and 1/2 year marriage this last fall. I was chilled to read this book which literally seemed to be parroting my own rationalizations and fears prior to my marriage back to me. On almost every page was an observation about Gen X marriages that mirrored my own experience - right down to the same phrases uttered by the couples interviewed. I know the author has taken some flack for this book, but it strikes me that nothing validates a book of social commentary like being able to see your own life in its pages.

Relatively speaking...

Having seen two different nieces stay married less than a year, I've wondered about the state of marriage. I found this book helpful with issues they have told me they struggled with and have given a copy to each of them. A loving aunt. Louisville, KY

A unique and objective look at marriage today

This compelling examination of marriage combines hard data with personal stories to provide readers with a look at a trend and the real people behind it. The book is a thought-provoking analysis of the state of marriage today and what we might expect in the future. The book also contains valuable lessons for singles and newlyweds alike. A particular strength of the book is that the author resists taking sides or promoting a social or political agenda - she simply tells it like it is.

Compelling Analysis of Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings

This absorbing portrait of starter marriage and divorce is instructive and solution-oriented. Despite its focus on divorce, I'll be recommending it to my single, engaged and married friends. Paul's discussion of matrimony works well as a jumping-off point for a larger project: a nuanced analysis of twenty- and thirty-somethings. She zeroes in on character traits that many emergent adults downplay, like loneliness and competitiveness. Paul's description of our generation's sky-high expectations and pitfalls reminds me of a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "This Side of Paradise": "You're a slave, a bound helpless slave to one thing in the world, your imagination."

A Fresh Outlook on Marriage Today

Without moralizing, Paul takes an intelligent look at the state of marriage among young people today, and labels the phenomenon of "starter marriage.' She makes a thorough analysis of why many young marriages are breaking up. If we want to understand where the institution of marriage is headed in our culture, and why, this book is an excellent road map with many keen insights.Carol Mayer, New York, NY