Rating: 
Summary: Very little real information, mostly the author's own angst
Review: Ugh. I bought this book b/c my child will be an "only," and I hoped for some input on how to avoid some of the stereotypes attached to only children. Instead, the author seemed intent on using this book as his personal journal through which he explored his own issues from childhood. [yawn] It got pretty annoying pretty fast.The author starts out by trying to say that the stereotypes about only children aren't necessarily true, and he gives a good argument that sometimes children develop traits for reasons other than their lack of siblings. He suggests that some stereotypes exist because -- once it's discovered that a child is an only -- people stop looking for OTHER reasons that a trait or a situation might have developed. Unfortunately, after this promising beginning, the author blathers on interminably with a series of "I have characteristic, and it's because I was an only child." And we have to read about his perfectionist tendencies and how he wept on his wife's shoulder about how he struggled with them. [yawn]All in all, I thought this book was useless, except maybe as a catharsis for the author's own shortcomings. [sigh] It certainly didn't offer any practical advice for raising an only child or addressing some of the pitfalls they face.
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