About The Secrets of Happy Families
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (February 19, 2013)
• Don’t worry about family dinner.
• Let your kids pick their punishments.
• Ditch the sex talk.
• Cancel date night.
These are just a few of the surprising innovations in this bold first-of-its-kind playbook for today’s families. Bestselling author and New York Times family columnist Bruce Feiler found himself squeezed between caring for aging parents and raising his children. So he set out on a three-year journey to find the smartest solutions and the most cutting-edge research about families. Instead of the usual family “experts,” he sought out the most creative minds—from Silicon Valley to the set of Modern Family, from the country’s top negotiators to the Green Berets—and asked them what team-building exercises and problem-solving techniques they use with their families. Feiler then tested these ideas with his wife and kids. The result is a fun, original look at how families can draw closer together, complete with two hundred never-before-seen best practices.
Feiler’s life-changing discoveries include a radical plan to reshape your family in twenty minutes a week, Warren Buffett’s guide for setting an allowance, and the Harvard handbook for resolving conflict. The Secrets of Happy Families is a timely, counterintuitive book that answers the questions countless parents are asking: How do we manage the chaos of our lives? How do we teach our kids values? How do we make our family happier?
Written in a charming, accessible style, The Secrets of Happy Families is smart, funny, and fresh, and will forever change how your family lives every day.
About Bruce Feiler
BRUCE FEILER is one of America’s most popular voices on family, faith, and survival. He writes the “This Life” column about contemporary families for the Sunday New York Times and is the author of five consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including WALKING THE BIBLE and THE COUNCIL OF DADS. He is the writer/presenter of the PBS series “Walking the Bible” and the forthcoming “Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler.” His latest book, THE SECRETS OF HAPPY FAMILIES, is a bold playbook for families today. It collects best practices for modern-day parents from some of the country’s most creative minds, including tops designers in Silicon Valley, elite peace negotiators, the creators of Modern Family and the Green Berets.
His most recent bestseller, THE COUNCIL OF DADS, is the international sensation that describes how faced with one of life’s greatest challenges, he asked six friends to form a support group for his young daughters. The book was profiled in PEOPLE Magazine, USA Today, Time, and the Washington Post, and was the subject of a one-hour documentary on CNN hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Bruce was named “Father of the Year” by the National Fatherhood Initiative.
Since 2001, Bruce has been one of the country’s preeminent thinkers, writers, and speakers about the role of religion in contemporary life. WALKING THE BIBLE describes his perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. The book was hailed as an “instant classic” by the Washington Post and “thoughtful, informed, and perceptive” by The New York Times. It spent more than a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into fifteen languages, and is the subject of a children’s book, a photography book, and a miniseries on PBS.
ABRAHAM recounts his personal search for the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. “Exquisitely written,” wrote the Boston Globe, “100 percent engaging.” The book was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, debuted in the top 5 of the New York Times bestseller list, and inspired thousands of grassroots interfaith discussions around the world.
WHERE GOD WAS BORN describes his year-long trek visiting biblical sites through the front lines of Israel, Iraq, and Iran. “Bruce Feiler is a real-life Indiana Jones,” wrote the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. AMERICA’S PROPHET is the groundbreaking story of the influence of Moses on American history. Both were Top 10 bestsellers.
Bruce Feiler has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Gourmet, where he won three James Beard Awards. He is also a frequent contributor to NPR, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News. A former circus clown, he has been the subject of Jay Leno joke and a JEOPARDY! question, and his face appears on a postage stamp in the Grenadines.
A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce lives in Brooklyn with wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their identical twin daughters.
Find out more about Bruce at his website, follow him on Twitter, and connect with him on Facebook.
Bruce’s Tour Stops
Thursday, January 31st: Musings of a Marfan Mom – preview post
Tuesday, February 19th: A Patchwork of Books
Thursday, February 21st: Library Queue
Monday, February 25th: Luxury Reading
Wednesday, February 27th: Family Volley
Thursday, February 28th: Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs
Monday, March 4th: Musings of a Marfan Mom
Tuesday, March 5th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Thursday, March 7th: Walking With Nora
Monday, March 11th: Fresh Basil
Tuesday, March 12th: Joy in this Journey