(Simon & Schuster, $25)
It’s time to bury “the long-standing stereotype of the only child as selfish, maladjusted, and eternally lonely,” said Kate Tuttle in The Boston Globe. Three quarters of Americans recently polled by Gallup say that children with no siblings are seriously disadvantaged in life, but Lauren Sandler’s “thoughtful, well-reasoned” new book makes a strong case that the popular view is simply wrong. Sandler, a journalist who was raised an only child and has one herself, blends a wealth of research with personal anecdote to argue that only children in fact grow up with significant advantages.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sandler’s ongoing introduction of one study after another “becomes occasionally overwhelming,” said Jessica Grose in The New Republic. Yet “a welcome strain of argument” undergirds her otherwise lively book, and that’s the notion that good parenting often begins with parents who don’t completely sacrifice their happiness to child-rearing and its demands. Studies show that having a second child seriously curbs women’s ambition and satisfaction, so “kudos to Sandler for discussing this honestly.” More impressively, she never suggests that there’s an ideal family size, said Lori Gottlieb in The New York Times. “Children are a desire, not a calculation,” she writes, admitting that she too struggles with the choice between having another child and stopping at one. In fact, “the book’s greatest strength is that we are forced to wade uncomfortably in that ambiguity.”
-
Should you downsize for retirement? Here's what to consider.The Explainer Moving to a smaller place may seem easier, but there are also some real benefits to staying put
-
What to do if you want to move but don't want to give up your low mortgage ratethe explainer 30-year mortgage rates are currently averaging 7% — and homeowners who secured rates closer to 3% during the pandemic are reluctant to sell their homes
-
Crossword: September 1, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
-
Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
-
The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
-
Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
-
Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
-
Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
-
You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
-
Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”