A father and son travel across North America in a pick-up truck--talking, laughing, fighting, and bonding. After years of thinking he'd never have kids, Lee Gutkind became a father at forty-seven and, following his divorce, soon found himself taking over more and more of the primary care responsibilities for his son, Sam. As one of a growing number of "old new dads" (recent studies have shown that one in ten children are born to fathers over forty), Gutkind realized that he faced challenges-both mental and physical-not faced by younger dads, not the least of which was how to bond with a son who was so much younger than himself. For the past five years, Gutkind's approach to this challenge has been to spend several weeks of every summer "truckin'" with Sam, a term they define as a metaphor for spontaneity, a lack of restriction: "Truckin' means that you can what you want to do sometimes; you don't always need to do what's expected." What began as long, cross-country journeys in a pick-up truck, including one memorable trip up the Alaska-Canadian Highway en route to a writer's conference in Homer, Alaska, have in more recent years ranged farther afield, to Europe, Australia, and Tibet. Whether listening to rock and roll music, entertaining themselves with their secret jokes and code words, fishing for halibut, or fighting over tuna fish sandwiches and how best to butter one's toast, Lee and Sam have learned to respect one another. In the process of their travels and their adventures, Lee has also come to grips with the downside of middle age and the embarassment of "senior moments," while Sam has inevitably begun to assert himself and shape his own life. Interspersed with Sam's own observations and journal entries, Truckin' with Sam is an honest, moving, and often hilarious account of one father's determination to bond with his son, a spontaneous travelogue that will appeal to old dads, new dads, and women who want to know more about how dads (and sons) think and behave.

Emmy-winning journalist, congresswoman, and the first single American to adopt internationally, Marjorie Margolies masterfully blends her personal narrative with national history and politics in this call-to-action memoir. Filled with the wisdom Marjorie Margolies gained as an athlete, educator, TV reporter, congressperson, world traveler, adoption advocate, parent, and grandparent, this memoir provides readers with an abundance of upbeat, prescriptive advice and inspiration with Marjorie's trademark self-effacing humor . Today, the world talks a lot about female empowerment, but when Marjorie was breaking through professional glass ceilings, she was unknowingly paving the way for the generations that followed in several different industries. After more than 25 years with NBC, she ran for U.S. Congress in 1991-as a registered Democrat in a historically Republican district of suburban Philadelphia-and she shocked the state and the country by winning by just over 1000 votes. She was the first woman elected in her own right in the state of Pennsylvania, but during her short tenure, Marjorie became the main target of Republicans taunts after she cast the deciding vote to approve President Clinton's budget. And How Are the Children? explores the life of a woman who was hardwired to shift paradigms and break down historic boundaries while managing a busy household and later dealing with heartbreaking tragedies including divorce and the death of a child. Her intention is for women of every generation to recognize themselves in her story and learn how to nurture themselves and the life decisions they have made.

Kim Chernin is renowned for her prolific writing -- including fiction and memoir -- on issues affecting women's lives, ranging from eating disorders and sex to relationships. In The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother, she offers readers a culmination of that work -- a fully integrated vision that will help women resolve their lifelong struggles with their mothers and become fully independent, capable people. Exploring six compelling case histories of women who have resolved these issues in unique and creative ways, Chernin offers her own insights based on years of working with women in therapy, and on her own problematic relationship with her daughter. A tour de force of analysis, compassion, and erudition, this exciting, important work is further evidence that Chernin is "blessed with the eloquence of a poet and the gifts of a born therapist" (San Francisco Chronicle).

At twenty, Alix Kates Shulman wrenched herself from her middle-class family and staked a claim to a fierce independence. Through her bestselling writings she has chronicled what it means to defy the expectations of family and society in order to map one's own life. Now, in this unflinching but tender memoir, she explores what it means to do what is expected of a daughter -- discovering in the process the unexpected, complicated joys of going home.