"Scarf knows the intricacies of the family structure and, even better, knows how to write well about them.
In Intimate Worlds, as in most of our lives, family is riveting, white-knuckle stuff."
-- The Washington Post Book World
In Intimate Worlds, best-selling author Maggie Scarf takes on the most important, and most universal, subject
of her distinguished career: the family. As the first social organization that we each encounter, the family is
where we learn the most fundamental and enduring lessons of our lives. Yet for too many, those lessons turn out
to be painful, perplexing, and emotionally crippling. In this luminous, beautifully written book, Scarf brilliantly
examines the complex ways in which families create their own intimate rules and patterns of interaction, and how
by understanding these dynamics we can each improve the quality of our own family life.
At the book's core are the stories of four fascinating families and the very different ways they enact the central
issues of family life: power and intimacy; conflict and love; individuality and group identification. Spanning
the spectrum of family health from dysfunctional through optimal, these families grapple with serious substance
abuse, sexual problems, difficulties with attachment and nurturance, eating disorders, and buried resentments that
surface generation after generation. As Maggie Scarf probes the motives and meanings of these compelling dramas,
she reveals the essential truths of how families shape human identity. Combining lucid analysis with warm human
understanding, Intimate Worlds is a major work that both clarifies and deepens our knowledge of family relationships.
"Wrought with care and commitment, it is meticulously researched and will, I think, serve as a valuable
resource for families struggling to understand themselves. "
-- Los Angeles Times
The major new work by the best-selling author of Intimate Partners reveals how one's family dynamic shapes his
or her identity. At the book's core are the stories if four fascinating families and the different ways they enact
the central issues of family life. 512 pages.