Flying Solo

By Carol M. Anderson

Book Overview

Unmarried at 40--could there be anything worse? Our culture dictates that women who have failed to catch or hold the golden ring of marriage are destined to be deprived and depressed, perhaps even dangerous. Add the burden of age and you have a woman headed for disaster. Not necessarily so, say the authors of Flying Solo, who talked with never-married, divorced, and widowed women in midlife across the country. These women's stories offer blueprints for living, as well as inspiration, for other women flying solo.

Most of these women did not intend to be single at midlife. Yet they have given up the dream of happily ever after to create lives on their own that are rich and rewarding. The authors share these women's stories as well as their practical advice on managing the mechanics of being single, transforming loneliness, redefining the place of work, developing friendship and support networks, living with and without intimacy and sex with men, and choosing to have and raise children. In the process they define not just a new American lifestyle but a new American Dream.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393313476
• ISBN13: 9780393313475
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

"Must read!"

This book, though 10 years old, is a "must read" for all women, single or married, in any stage of adult life. It provides an in-depth understanding of how The Dream, promulgated by our culture, results in most women, despite the progress we've made, still struggling to maintain their own sense of self in the context of relationships, especially with men. I'm on my THIRD reading!

Thank you - I agree!

I am 42 and single. I have my own business and a very .... intense, male dominated, sport/hobby that takes up most of my free time. My married friends are always trying to point to my life as "different" meaning bad. But I disagree. My life is full. I have male and female friends and I even have a date every once in a while. I no longer let the fact that I'm not married "define me". I thank the ladies who wrote this book for validating my thoughts. I want to share this with my other single friends who are miserable and my married friends who are stifled. Always remember... When we lose our fear, we become the people we envy.

An uplifting, empowering book.

I have read this book several times and I always find it encouraging, empowering, and uplifting. The authors interview many women who have given up on, lost, or never sought the traditional route of husband-and-2.3 children. In spite of societal pressures and expectations, these women lead happy, fulfilling, satisfied lives. Some have found ways to have children and/or a significant other in their lives without the framework of a traditional marriage, and some have not -- but none of them have become the bitter, twisted "spinsters" our society would seem to expect them to be. I found this book to be an inspiration, and I think ALL women should read it; even if you're not "flying solo" now, you might find yourself doing so at some point in the future. This book can show you how to do it -- and even how to enjoy it!