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A review by meghan111
Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone by Eric Klinenberg
3.0
2.5 The sort of social science book that reiterates its points again and again. The main argument is a good one, though: rather than bemoaning the lonely American and wringing our hands over the ways that modern life appears to be more isolated and fragmented, we should address the real problems (which, conveniently, there are real solutions to.) The real problems are elderly people living with little support in communities that don't offer Meals on Wheels visits or have pedestrian-friendly places to go. The real problem is that no one can count on having an okay place to spend their final days; instead everyone has to fear running out of money and living in a privatized, understaffed, horrific nursing home.
Besides that, the author talks about how people have never lived alone in such numbers before, because it has never before been possible for most people. He interviews mostly middle-class people about their choices and what they enjoy about living alone, and he also interviews some residents of a New York SRO (single-room occupancy) building, people who are generally poor and marginalized.
Besides that, the author talks about how people have never lived alone in such numbers before, because it has never before been possible for most people. He interviews mostly middle-class people about their choices and what they enjoy about living alone, and he also interviews some residents of a New York SRO (single-room occupancy) building, people who are generally poor and marginalized.