Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City
by Kathryn Edin, Timothy J. Nelson
On This Page
Description
Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as "deadbeat dads." Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine how couples in challenging straits come together and get pregnant so quickly-without planning. The authors chronicle the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the show more fatal flaws that often lead to the relationship's demise. They offer keen insight into a radical redefinition of family life where the father-child bond is central and parental ties are peripheral. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Doing the Best I Can shows how mammoth economic and cultural changes have transformed the meaning of fatherhood among the urban poor. Intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers make real the significant obstacles faced by low-income men at every step in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to the often celebratory moment of birth, and finally to the hardships that accompany the early years of the child's life, and beyond. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
In fairness I didn't finish the book. I was hoping for something along the lines of [b:Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|385255|Random Family Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|Adrian Nicole LeBlanc|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1396101172s/385255.jpg|909535] or [b:There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|19822117|There Are No Children Here The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|Alex Kotlowitz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387778248s/19822117.jpg|27840328]. The book is very well researched and offers insight into the lives of a population that tends to get blamed for a lot of problems regardless of show more what the truth is. That said instead of focusing on say a small handful of men and really offering a full picture of each of them which might have offered a greater opportunity for compelling story telling, this is made up of details about dozens of men whose stories have so much in common that it comes off as redundant and it's difficult to keep track of who's who. show less
In fairness I didn't finish the book. I was hoping for something along the lines of [b:Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|385255|Random Family Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|Adrian Nicole LeBlanc|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1396101172s/385255.jpg|909535] or [b:There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|19822117|There Are No Children Here The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|Alex Kotlowitz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387778248s/19822117.jpg|27840328]. The book is very well researched and offers insight into the lives of a population that tends to get blamed for a lot of problems regardless of show more what the truth is. That said instead of focusing on say a small handful of men and really offering a full picture of each of them which might have offered a greater opportunity for compelling story telling, this is made up of details about dozens of men whose stories have so much in common that it comes off as redundant and it's difficult to keep track of who's who. show less
In fairness I didn't finish the book. I was hoping for something along the lines of [b:Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|385255|Random Family Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx|Adrian Nicole LeBlanc|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1396101172s/385255.jpg|909535] or [b:There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|19822117|There Are No Children Here The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America|Alex Kotlowitz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387778248s/19822117.jpg|27840328]. The book is very well researched and offers insight into the lives of a population that tends to get blamed for a lot of problems regardless of show more what the truth is. That said instead of focusing on say a small handful of men and really offering a full picture of each of them which might have offered a greater opportunity for compelling story telling, this is made up of details about dozens of men whose stories have so much in common that it comes off as redundant and it's difficult to keep track of who's who. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
6+ Works 1,073 Members
Kathryn Edin is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
3 Works 147 Members
Classifications
- Genres
- Sociology, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 362.82 — Social sciences Social problems and social services Social problems of and services to groups of people Problems of and services to other groups Families
- LCC
- HV700.7 .E35 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Protection, assistance and relief Special classes Families. Mothers. Widow's pensions
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 74
- Popularity
- 424,043
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.88)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
