Living Single

The truth about singles in our society.

Bella DePaulo is author of Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After. She teaches at UC Santa Barbara. See full bio

September 30, 2009, Social Life

Book Club Begins with 3 Questions

Have a question? Book club is open for discussion

As I mentioned in a previous post, today marks the start of the Alternatives to Marriage Project online book club discussion of Single with Attitude: Not Your Typical Take on Health and Happiness, Love and Money, Marriage and Friendship. We are going to begin with these three questions, but anyone is welcome to raise any questions or issues throughout the week.

1. What's a good way to respond to people who ask why you are not married, or when you are getting married?

2. Do you agree that friendship should be taken more seriously than it is now? If so, do you have any specific suggestions? Are there ways that friends can be more fully recognized and acknowledged? Consider everything from the informal (inviting friends to bring friends to your social events) to the official (including friends in the Family and Medical Leave Act).

3. What are some of the ways that the bigger, broader senses of love and passion have a place in your lives? So, set aside romantic love and sex. What or whom are you passionate about?

If you haven't already joined the club, you can do so here. (It is a moderated list, so admission will not be instantaneous.) You can also still get Single with Attitude in paperback here or here, or in a Kindle version.

Coming soon: My round-up of other Singles Week stories that appeared after my mid-week post.

Also, there have been some very perceptive comments contributed to recent posts, so if you haven't been following, you can catch up with past posts here.