Over the past four decades, American adults have seemed more concerned with enjoying their own existence than with the generation and welfare of children. Kay Hymowitz's Marriage and Caste in America and David Blankenhorn's The Future of Marriage address the consequences of this failure to attend to nature's scheme. The first book compiles Hymowitz's essays, most of them previously published in the Manhattan Institute's City Journal. Without footnotes or bibliography, it is less a resource for studying the issues than a lively discussion of the family today, which may appeal to those who are part of the problem but could be part of its solution. [...]
For those endeavoring to protect traditional marriage, David Blankenhorn's The Future of Marriage is an invaluable resource. The founder and president of the Institute for American Values, Blankenhorn is a forceful critic of the divorce culture. He analyzed the disastrous effects of fathers' departure from the home in Fatherless America (1995). Now, he addresses same-sex marriage, thoroughly weighing the arguments on both sides. A self-identified Democrat and liberal who has frequently debated same-sex marriage advocates, Blankenhorn expresses concern—even anguish—at opposing their demands. He does so because he believes that to grant them would destroy marriage as a public institution dedicated to the production and rearing of children by their two biological parents.