The Choice Effect: Love and Commitment in an Age of Too Many Options

by Amalia McGibbon, Lara Vogel, Claire A. Williams

Overview

Love choices but hate choosing? Welcome to the club. The Choice Effect is for young women who have all the opportunities in the world and no idea how to decide among them. 

It’s one thing to have lots of options when it comes to fulfilling careers or traveling the world—but what does it mean for our love lives? How can you know whether you’re with the right person—or if the time is right—when you haven’t vetted the other possibilities? With hard-won insight, plus interviews with a whole host of other women who are living it, the twentysomething friends and authors of The Choice Effect explain why their generation is sidestepping traditional timelines. 

They look at the question of choice in the twenty-first century as they give voice to their generation’s dilemma: How do you choose when you’ve been taught you can have it all?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580052931
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/25/2010
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Amalia McGibbon holds a BA in English from Stanford University and a background in public relations. She currently divides her time between London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Amalia is the Food Editor for Gentry Magazine, and has been published in The Wave, BizBash Magazine, Café, Diablo, and SF Downtown.

Lara Vogel has a BA in human biology and international public health from Stanford University. She is pursuing her MBA at Oxford University as a Skoll Foundation Scholar for Social Entrepreneurship, and in 2011 will begin her studies at Stanford Medical School. Lara is a marathon runner and the co-founder of Hope Runs, a non-profit organization based in East Africa that has been featured widely in the press for its positive impact on Kenyan children.

Claire A. Williams holds a BA and an MA in anthropology from Stanford University and an MBA from Oxford University as a Skoll Foundation Scholar for Social Entrepreneurship. She works at Twitter. Claire co-founded Hope Runs, a non-profit organization working with AIDS orphans in East Africa. Claire is also a popular personal finance blogger with more than 10,000 daily readers. Claire is currently training to set a Guinness World Record by running seven marathons on seven continents in seven weeks in support of Hope Runs.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Theory Is Born 1

1 Choister? Why Do You Keep Making That Funny Sound? 9

2 Mommy, Where Do Choisters Come From? 29

3 The World Is Yours, Choister 53

4 The Choisters Cometh 77

5 Dating and Mating 109

6 Little White Choister Chapel 129

7 we r ovr: When Bad Things Happen to Good Choisters 149

8 The Light at the End of the Tunnel Might Be an Oncoming Train 171

Conclusion: Where Is the Off Switch? 195

Editorial Reviews

In this wickedly funny bitch slap of a book, the authors establish themselves as the voice of a generation spoiled for choice. Williams, Vogel, and McGibbon nail the idiosyncrasies of the new old kids, baffled by too many options and paralyzed by their very freedom. I look forward to reading these brilliant authors’ analysis of Generation Y through parenthood, middle age, and into senility.” — Pamela Redmond Satran, author of the New York Times bestseller How Not To Act Old

“The Choice Effect is a hilarious, breezy, and ultimately insightful look at ‘Choisters’ – the young women of the Y Generation – and the mountain of choices they face in love, life and online shopping.” — Gigi Levangie, author of the New York Times bestseller The Starter Wife

“The Choice Effect navigates the liberating yet tricky terrain of a generation faced with an abundance of options–professional, romantic, and otherwise. This witty, clever, and insightful gem is the perfect guide for any young person who’s so overwhelmed by choices that it sometimes seems impossible just to make one.” — J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Commencement

“The sharpest take on dating in decades.” — Sara Parriott, author of Sex Doesn’t Count When…

“The Choice Effect is intelligent, funny and true. If you are a twenty-something women or you ever wanted to understand one, this book is for you.” — Howard Morris, author of Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid

From the Publisher