The Sibling Society An Impassioned Call for the Rediscovery of Adulthood

by BLY, ROBERT

• ISBN13: 9780679781288
• ISBN10: 0679781285
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-05-27
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

Where have all the grownups gone? In answering that question with the same freewheeling erudition and intuitive brilliance that made Iron John a national bestseller, poet, storyteller and translator Robert Bly tells us that we live in a "sibling society, " in which adults have regressed into adolescence and adolescents refuse to grow up.

Author Biography

Robert Bly is an American Poet Laureate who has authored, edited, and translated numerous books of poetry and prose, including Iron John.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Part One: Jack, the Beanstalk, and the Half-Adult	3	(64)
1 The Woodstock Moment	3	(5)
2 Jack, the Beanstalk, and the Giant with a Large Appetite	8	(36)
First Interruption: What Is the Giant?	16	(15)
Second Interruption: Where Have All the Parents Gone?	31	(13)
3 Swimming Among the Half-Adults	44	(23)
Part Two: Inside Families	67	(80)
4 The Adventures of Ganesha: A Hindu Story	67	(22)
5 The Wild Girl and Her Sister: A Norwegian Story	89	(13)
6 What Do Daughters Stand to Lose or Gain in a Sibling Society?	102	(14)
7 What Do Sons Stand to Lose or Gain in a Sibling Society?	116	(15)
8 Disdain and Contempt for Children in the Sibling Society	131	(16)
Part Three: Outside the Family	147	(38)
9 Benjamin Franklin's Pig: Economics and Our Heaviness of Heart	147	(12)
10 Teaching Our Children That Nothing Works	159	(6)
11 Looking at Women's and Men's Movements from Inside the Sibling House	165	(20)
Part Four: Culture	185	(44)
12 Exultation in the Midst of Flatness	185	(9)
13 The Difficulty of Understanding Mythology in the Sibling Culture	194	(14)
14 What Is Vertical Thought?	208	(11)
15 The Snake That Wants to Eat All Its Brides: A Swedish Story	219	(10)
Epilogue	229	(12)
Notes	241	(42)
Bibliography	283	(14)
Acknowledgments	297	(2)
Copyright Acknowledgments	299	(4)
Index	303