In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

In the Kitchen tells the story of a man whose life unravels — up until the hopeful ending. It starts with a brilliant, grueling really, description of what really happens in the kitchen of a high-end restaurant, told in a way that makes the reader wonder whether to patronize such establishments. The hero, who is [...]

Under Pressure by Carl Honore

Under Pressure talks about the same helicopter parents that were the focus of A Nation of Wimps, but the focus is slightly different: more on younger (school age) children, and more on the ridiculousness of defining ourselves through our children’s achievements. The author sagely reminds us that children are quite capable of making decisions about their [...]

A Nation of Wimps by Hara Estroff Marano

A Nation of Wimps decries the heavy-handed parenting that coddles and spoils children and removes opportunities for what our parents may have called character-building experiences. My favorite anecdote from the book was of the parent who negotiated a college grad’s salary and benefits for the first job directly with the recruiter. (As a manager I would not [...]

Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

Hurry Down Sunshine is another terrifying book for parents, a la Beautiful Boy, but this time with a daughter who is diagnosed with psychosis and potentially a bipolar disorder, shut into a psychiatric hospital, drugged until her personality seemingly disappears, but recovers to go back to high school, where the book ends. (The epilogue hints at [...]

Too Much of a Good Thing by Dan Kindlon

Too Much of a Good Thing addresses the gnawing anxiety of comfortable parents, that amongst the riches that surround our children we may be missing the boat on other, more important ingredients of education so our children may end up adrift rather than successful.
Drawing on a survey of teens and their parents as well as [...]

Death Benefits by Jeanne Safer

Death Benefits is written by a psychologist and claims to describe how losing a parent can be an inspiration for making positive changes. In fact, it’s more a self-reflection of how the author felt liberated by her mother’s death and was finally able to come to term with the patently unjust fact that she did [...]

The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

The Ministry of Special Cases is a strange book. It tells the story of Kaddish and Lillian, a Jewish couple of a ”fixer” and a well-born woman rejected by her family because of her marrriage, whose son disappears during Argentina’s bloody junta rule, and who then undertake an epic and unsuccessful quest for him. Some parts [...]