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The Other Significant Others - Rhaina Cohen

By Rhaina Cohen

Release Date: 2024-02-13

Genre: Family & Relationships

4.5 (6 ratings)
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER
AN INDIE BESTSELLER

"The Other Significant Othersā€¦fundamentally, it's become my new Bible.ā€ ā€” Trevor Noah
"An arresting work of compassion and insight." ā€•Lori Gottlieb
"I loved and recommend [The Other Significant Others] to everybody." ā€”Ezra Klein
"I feel like I've been waiting for this book for my entire adult life." ā€•Anne Helen Petersen

Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? What do we lose when we expect a spouse to meet all our needs? And what can we learn about commitment, love, and family from people who put deep friendship at the center of their lives?

In The Other Significant Others, NPR's Rhaina Cohen invites us into the lives of people who have defied convention by choosing a friend as a life partnerā€”these are friends who are home co-owners, co-parents or each otherā€™s caregivers. Their riveting stories unsettle widespread assumptions about relationships, including the idea that sex is a defining feature of partnership and that people who raise kids together should be in a romantic relationship. Platonic partners from different walks of lifeā€”spanning age and religion, gender and sexuality and moreā€”reveal how freeing and challenging it can be to embrace a relationship model that society doesn't recognize. And they show that orienting your world around friends isn't limited to daydreams and episodes of The Golden Girls, but actually possible in real life.

Based on years of original reporting and striking social science research, Cohen argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them, while we diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. She traces how, throughout history, our society hasnā€™t always fixated on marriage as the greatest source of meaning, or even love. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed or divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Cohen insists that we recognize the many forms of profound connection that can anchor our lives. A rousing and incisive book, The Other Significant Others challenges us to ask what we want from our relationshipsā€”not just what weā€™re supposed to wantā€”and transforms how we define a fulfilling life.

The Other Significant Others - Rhaina Cohen

By Rhaina Cohen

Release Date: 2024-02-13

Genre: Family & Relationships

4.5 (6 ratings)
Read Download
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
AN INDIE BESTSELLER

"The Other Significant Othersā€¦fundamentally, it's become my new Bible.ā€ ā€” Trevor Noah
"An arresting work of compassion and insight." ā€•Lori Gottlieb
"I loved and recommend [The Other Significant Others] to everybody." ā€”Ezra Klein
"I feel like I've been waiting for this book for my entire adult life." ā€•Anne Helen Petersen

Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? What do we lose when we expect a spouse to meet all our needs? And what can we learn about commitment, love, and family from people who put deep friendship at the center of their lives?

In The Other Significant Others, NPR's Rhaina Cohen invites us into the lives of people who have defied convention by choosing a friend as a life partnerā€”these are friends who are home co-owners, co-parents or each otherā€™s caregivers. Their riveting stories unsettle widespread assumptions about relationships, including the idea that sex is a defining feature of partnership and that people who raise kids together should be in a romantic relationship. Platonic partners from different walks of lifeā€”spanning age and religion, gender and sexuality and moreā€”reveal how freeing and challenging it can be to embrace a relationship model that society doesn't recognize. And they show that orienting your world around friends isn't limited to daydreams and episodes of The Golden Girls, but actually possible in real life.

Based on years of original reporting and striking social science research, Cohen argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them, while we diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. She traces how, throughout history, our society hasnā€™t always fixated on marriage as the greatest source of meaning, or even love. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed or divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Cohen insists that we recognize the many forms of profound connection that can anchor our lives. A rousing and incisive book, The Other Significant Others challenges us to ask what we want from our relationshipsā€”not just what weā€™re supposed to wantā€”and transforms how we define a fulfilling life.

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The Other Significant Others

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