Read separately or together, the interviews and Mr. Koppel's conclusions offer interesting insights into the role of money in people's lives. Yet probably more marriages break up because of disagreements about money than any other reason. The book is kept interesting by the use of case studies, often married couples in different stages of life. One of the book's recurrent themes is that monetary conflicts between loved ones are often symbolic of deeper issues, such as a parent's attempt to control a child or one spouse's attempt to control the other. Some of the therapist's suggestions for resolving problems seem unusual.
Nothing unites a couple better than to have a common enemy.
Your parents can help your marriage by becoming the objects of your blame. The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism by sociologist Richard Sennett. Mr. Sennett presents an intellectually challenging picture of the downside of the new economy. Flexibility and nearly constant change are replacing the old rules of single-company employment and coherent careers. The professor of sociology at the London School of Economics and New York University ranges far in this enlightening and sometimes complex book.