Rating: 
Summary: Something very strange is going on in this book . . .
Review: . . . something that almost can't be put into words, but I'll give it a shot: As simply as I can say it, the book's essence, its soul, belies it title. Al 'n' Tipper come off as anything BUT joined at the heart. There's some weird discontinuity between their marriage, their family, their thesis, and the book's title. Let me be clear: I come from a totally different perspective than the Gores. I'm thrilled he's not in the White House. I think their ideas on the family in America are fundamentally wrong. But there's some other weird thing happening in this book that goes beyond all that. Their take on the family, for all its nuanced social science grounding, just seems like a steaming pile of do-do. What's going on here? I think this book strangely and unwittingly uncovers the bane of modern existence: A case of ideology trumping common sense. What I mean is this: Whereas their data all tend to point in the direction of a recovery of tradional values vis-a-vis the family, their conclusions point in the opposite direction--toward the accomodation of the family in relation to modern corrosive values that, indeed, threaten its very existence. Thank God this confused individual has decided not to seek the Presidency in 2004.
Rating: 
Summary: Joined at the Heart
Review: The Gores redefine what it means to be a family in an interesting, moving way without passing judgment. Their example provides a wonderful role model: both their loving, accepting tone throughout the book and the stories they share of their own family unit. Reading this book, you get a good look at how caring and genuinely kind the Gores really are. While this book is a good choice for pleasure reading, I also recommend it for university courses on family.
Rating: 
Summary: forming an anchorless family
Review: Al Gore wouldn't know what a family was if it bit him in the caboose. Culture and economic status should not be standards by which we decide how to raise our children. The Gore's need to find a standard outside their own brains and experiences by which to judge what is best for families. I don't know if the Gores still claim to be a part of the Southern Baptist church, but that probably wouldn't be a bad place for them to start when they begin their research for their next book. (...that is, if they do any research at all.)
Rating:
Summary: Washed-up has been writes book...
Review: First he invents the internet, and now he writes a book. If you thought his first book was out there, you really won't believe this one!!
Rating:
Summary: Joined at the Heart is sure to become an enduring classic
Review: In JOINED AT THE HEART, former Vice-President Al Gore and his wife Tipper write about their experiences raising a family, as well as interviews with families who shared their own stories. The Gores' research covers a span of eleven years, during which they convened annual conferences to focus on various themes. They looked for families whose stories would breathe life into each topic. A chapter on "Balancing Work and Family" captures the reality of extended workdays, longer commutes and economic necessity --- all of which conspire to reduce "family time" and have led to what the Gores call "Family Redefined." What else did the Gores find? Faced with too many competing demands, many families simply don't have enough hours in the day to give work and family their absolute best. There's not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough sleep. The traditional family of the 1960s --- the breadwinning Dad, the homemaker Mom with two or three kids --- has become a minority. Over the past two generations, cultural shifts and economic pressures have profoundly affected TV's Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It To Beaver family models, replacing them with two-earner families, single parent families, working mothers with babies and a host of other types. Reams of data reveal dramatic differences in family patterns. Fewer married-with-children families; a divorce rate that has doubled; more babies born to unmarried mothers; more grandparents raising children; interracial couples and blended families. JOINED AT THE HEART and a companion volume were developed by the Gores over a period of two years. The second book, THE SPIRIT OF FAMILY, shows in stunning photos what JOINED AT THE HEART tells in words. JOINED AT THE HEART is sure to become an enduring classic just as Al Gore's EARTH IN THE BALANCE and Tipper Gore's RAISING PG KIDS IN AN X-RATED SOCIETY have become. Its appeal extends to all ages and to all who care about children and families. --- Reviewed by Elinor Nuxoll
Rating:
Summary: I am glad I borrowed and did not buy this [stuff]!
Review: They need a ZERO STAR...1 star for this nonsence is way to much!!
Rating: 
Summary: On the Mark, but too Predictable
Review: I initially intended to give this book "3 stars" but changed my mind and decided to go with "4 stars." I really do believe that the book is well intentioned, and not just an attempt by Al Gore to cultivate his political base. I think the book does a pretty good job of looking at all dimensions of the many complex challenges facing modern day families (especially non-traditional family configurations) and a good job of providing strategies for dealing with these challenges. The problem I have with the book is that it is all so predictable and overly simplistic in many instances.
If you're interested in reading a novel about complex and stressful intra-family relationships, I suggest you try my book, "The Other Part Of Me." I promise you won't find it predictable.
Rating:
Summary: A wandering path...
Review: I was shocked and truly disappointed when the Gores decided not to run in '04. However, I was also disappointed in this book of theirs. The Gores write about how the 'family' is changing, but they don't really define what 'family' is. In other words, what is essential to 'family' which cannot change? What is necessary? Are college roommates 'family'? Are co-workers 'family'? Are people who ride the bus together 'family'? I think the Gores fail to make a distinction between the 'family' and 'community' -- possibly in the hopes of being all-inclusive. As a result, they're political correctness ends up turning the entity of the family into a watery, vanilla mush. An additional disappointment was that the Gores make very few suggestions/recommendations on how to improve or strengthen the family. They site statistics and problems, but no answers. That's frustrating. They spent an entire book on the subject, but don't have any solutions? The Gores explore many ways in which the idea of family is being redefined. However, I wish they had explained why some of those changes are 'bad' and some are 'good'. That is, day-care is viewed as bad, but alternative family make-up is viewed as good. What are they using to determine their what the family should be? Is it personal preference? Is it unchangable principle? Is it polling data? This is unclear. In short, this book is little more than a few personal experiences and some general observations. It could have been so much more.
Rating:
Summary: Great intelligence focused on a great subject
Review: It's refreshing to see a high-powered, and high-intelligence couple, focus their attention on a matter of the heart like this. This gives us a chance to see the real Al Gore and family, not the political clan filtered through the media's harsh, unforgiving gaze.
Rating:
Summary: Its pathetic
Review: Why did he bother to write it: it's a pathetic piece of writing (too political) and he's not even running for president. So glad HE'S not president.
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