All the Single Ladies (Traister) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Traister brings a welcome balance of critique and personal reflection to a conversation that is often characterize more by moral policing than honest discussion.... Perhaps one of the most important aspects of [her] narrative is her acknowledgement that the experiences of single women are far from identical.... An informative and thought-provoking book for anyone--not just the single ladies—who want to gain a greater understanding of this pivotal moment in the history of the United States.
Gillian B. White - New York Times Book Review


[I]mpressively well researched...it's the personal narratives drawn from more than 100 interviews...that make the book not just an informative read but also an entirely engaging one.... Some of what's covered in the book is already well-trod ground...but the exemplary framework of cultural inclusion, the personal candor and palpable desire to lift up each and every one of us, is what makes All the Single Ladies a singularly triumphant work of women.
Rebecca Carroll - Los Angeles Times


[Traister is] one of the nation’s smartest and most provocative feminist voices.... All the Single Ladies is a multifaceted endeavor. Bringing together US history and life in this 21st century, through data, interviews, and an enormous stack of reading and viewing material,...Traister produces an invigorating defense of a demographic too often criticized and caricatured, rather than recognized for its profound effect on American society
Rebecca Steintz - Boston Globe


The enormous accomplishment of Traister's book is to show that the ranks of women electing for nontraditional lives...have also improved the lots of women who make traditional choices...This rich portrait of our most quietly explosive social force makes it clear that the ladies still have plenty of work to do.
slate


Wonderfully inclusive, examining single women from all walks of life—working-, middle-, and upper-class women; women of color and white women; queer and straight ones…With All the Single Ladies she brings her trademark intelligence and wit to bear.
Roxanne Gay - Elle


Incorporating a lively slew of perspectives of single ladies past and present, Traister....sticks to her central argument that the world is changing and policies need to catch up to the social reality. The result is an invigorating study of single women in America with refreshing insight into the real life of the so-called spinster.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) This fast-paced, fascinating book will draw in fans of feminism, social sciences, and U.S. history.
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Exploring all aspects of single life—social, economic, racial, and sexual—Traister’s comprehensive volume, sure to be vigorously discussed, is truly impressive in scope and depth while always managing to be eminently readable and thoughtful.
Booklist


A feminist journalist argues that single women, who now outnumber married women in the United States, are changing society in major ways.... An easy read with lots of good anecdotes, a dose of history, and some surprising statistics, but its focus on one segment of one generation of single women is a drawback.
Kirkus Reviews