"Going Solo" by Eric Klinenberg

"Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal

of Living Alone" is a tremendously interesting and

(perhaps more importantly) helpful read.

Eric Klinenberg uses statistics and the history of

Singletons (people living on their own, as he coins it)

in such an insightful and fascinating way that you never

feel as though you're reading a non-fiction book.

Because it's not a matter of dry textual analysis, but

rather an exploration of the sociology behind living solo,

and it's populated by tales of people in all manner of situations

throughout the past 100 years, delving into minds and

emotions and social trends.

It showed me a whole new aspect of our modern lifestyle

as well as the development of this country over time.

What it also did, though, was make me feel better

about my choice to live single, and solo.

Klinenberg is very adept at walking a middle-ground

with his presentation;

very fair-minded and even-handed with his findings,

even though he does obviously hold his own perspective.

The reasons for the trend in people deciding to live alone is

respectfully handled, and the advocacy for more

understanding of the lifestyle is promoted. By penetrating

the veil of society's (somewhat weakening) antagonism

against people who don't marry/start families/have

roommates (it's still alive and well in many areas,

including the Bible-swamped South where I live,)

there is a new sense of acceptance and tolerance
that has been lacking.

This is definitely a reality of our world that has

not seen adequate coverage in media.

(From a non-biased POV, at least!)

Pretty much all aspects of the phenomenon are covered--

from the elderly to post-divorce singles to

the new trend for all kids in a family having their own rooms.

The way this book helped me was to show me that invisible pocket

of humanity that lives and believes and works the same

way as I do. Sometimes the idea of being the only person

on the planet that feels or lives a certain way can be stifling.

There is a definite sense of camaraderie in feeling

'together in our aloneness!'

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