–Excerpts from Journal Reviews Below
“Simply put, the author has crafted an exemplary, thoughtful, and riveting journey into the worlds of stepfathers. . . . I believe this book has quite broad appeal and can easily engage a range of audiences. . . . Stepdads, in sum, is poised to become a classic, probably the classic, on stepfathering. I would also argue that it stands as an important contribution to knowledge about fathering and the care work men do more broadly. I know I shall be heartily recommending it to colleagues and graduate students who want to learn about contemporary fatherhood, and that I will be doing so for years to come.”
–Pamela Smock, Journal of American Sociology, March 2006
“Marsiglio is an excellent writer, with a clear and engaging prose style that manages to convey sound and interesting scholarly insights in a manner that should be understandable to stepfathers and their partners who might want to read this book. This type of academic writing is the most difficult, in my opinion, because researchers often find it hard to write clearly without engaging in scientific and disciplinary jargon. I think Marsiglio has successfully presented his findings in a way that reads like a series of connected stories about stepfathering, interlaced with scientific and theoretical analyses of what these stories of love, hope, and repair might mean for stepfamilies, stepfathers, and for society as a whole. . . . Family scholars and students can model from this book how to explain complex findings about family relationships to a general readership without abandoning theory, context, and meaning.”
–Lawrence Ganong, Journal of Marriage and Family, 2005
“This is a top-notch book, well-conceived and written. It would fit well into a course on families and family structure as well as a methods course on qualitative research. . . When I compare the insights from this qualitative research with my own quantitative research, the results are amazingly similar and the qualitative approach puts a lot of meat on the bones of the quantitative relationships.”
–Sandra Hofferth, Contemporary Sociology, 2005.
“Marsiglio’s analysis of the data yielded some important and seldom-discussed concepts within the stepfathering literature: the father ally (stepfathers who do what they can to facilitate relationships between nonresidential biological fathers and their children), the effects of multiple father figures (both present and absent in a child’s life), and stepchildren as substitutes for stepfathers’ biological children. The discussion of these topics brings a new degree of understanding to the complexities of emotional life in stepfamilies. Stepdads will be a useful resource to marriage and family counselors, family researchers and their students, and to a general audience of people trying to improve their stepparenting relationships. It can serve as a field guide to stepfathers as they develop new family relationships, to students and researchers who desire to gain insights into the experiences of men as they negotiate stepfathering relationships, and to policy makers and practitioners who want to support families in diverse and complex relationship context.”
–Rob Palkovitz, Men and Masculinities, July 2006
–Excerpts from Other Non Academic Reviewers (Rowman & Littlefield webpage)
“This book is a great learning tool for blended families. It will help you adjust to the changes and understand roles each person can take on. By confronting questions that many stepdads often ask, the book will give an outline to family dynamics and ways to bond, negotiate and discipline”
–Atlanta Parent
“”In this useful and timely book, University of Florida sociology professor William Marsiglio tackles the little-explored territory of stepfathers’ parenting experiences and inner lives. Written in accessible language, this book covers many of the challenges stepfathers face in trying to build harmonious homes and close relationships with their stepchildren. Although the book holds particular interest for stepfathers, single mothers and remarried couples, it also has a broader appeal because of how it addresses parenting issues.”
–Chicago Parent
“Marsiglio presents real-life interviews with stepdads, designed to help men with self-image and partial identity issues. The real-life interviews are fascinating; the issues and feelings are universal.
–San Diego Family Magazine
“Answers provocative and timely questions.”
— Family Times
–Reviews from Book Jacket
Stepdads is the best examination yet of the inner worlds of stepfathers. It provides a good sense of the great diversity among stepfamilies and of the challenges that many stepfathers successfully surmount in creating a place for themselves in their new families.”
–Andrew Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University
“Stepdads offers an intimate look at a rarely explored situation: living in a stepfather family. Marsiglio is an accomplished interviewer who describes in captivating detail the hopes, fears, struggles, and triumphs of his stepfather informants. Not only does Stepdads illuminate a wide range of personal experiences, but it also helps the reader understand the sociological significance of this increasingly common family arrangement. The book is must reading for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be a stepfather.”
–Scott Coltrane, University of California, Riverside; author of Family Man
“Stepdads is a major contribution to the literature on stepfamilies. Despite the fact that stepfathers are increasing in number every year, we still know relatively little about their experiences, feelings, and views. Based on interviews with stepfathers, William Marsiglio provides an informative and sensitive account of what it is like to be a stepfather in America today. This book should be of interest, not only to stepfathers and their families, but also to family educators, counselors, and scholars. Stepdads is the best book currently available on this topic.”
–Paul Amato, Pennsylvania State University
“A ‘must-read’ book for stepfathers, their wives, and partners. And especially those who are ‘thinking about it.’ Beautifully written…an important book for our times.”
–Jeannette Lofas, president and founder, Stepfamily Foundation, Inc. www.stepfamily.org