Kim Forde-Mazrui (Virginia): Tradition as Justification: The Case of Different-Sex Marriage. From NYRB, a review essay on marriage. A review of More Perfect Unions: The American Search for Marital Bliss by Rebecca Davis. A review of A History of Marriage by Elizabeth Abbott. 5 expectations marriage doesn't meet: The fantasy of marriage looks a lot different from reality. Leo and Sonya Tolstoy clung to marriage as a transcendental ideal, but its lived reality, as Vivian Gornick explains, nearly destroyed them. More on Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough by Lori Gottlieb. You don’t have to be a heartbreaker: There’s life out there for marriage; a case for some cultural — country — confidence. Is marriage obsolete? A new study suggests that young people are waiting to tie the knot — if they ever decide to do so. Housewives of God: Priscilla Shirer believes a Christian woman should submit to her husband’s authority — but while she’s teaching the gospel, Mr. Shirer doesn’t mind doing the dishes. Marriage has never been quite as simple as one man, one woman and a desire to procreate; across cultures, family structure varies drastically. Helen Fisher on the New Monogamy: Forward to the past. Marina Adshade on the economics of monogamy and polygyny. Letter from Papua New Guinea: Polygamy and tradition make life complicated. Mark D. White examines the ethics of adultery — you may be surprised! False confessions, graphic testimony, framed spouses and "unknown blondes": A history of the difficulty in getting divorced, and how it could now change. The Marriage Myth: Why do so many couples divorce? Maybe they just don't know how to be married. The frugal divorcee: Sandra Tsing Loh on how to survive and even thrive in the new age of austerity.
