The classic that is widely acknowledged to be the most valuable and insightful book ever written on the dynamics of working-class family life by a renowned sociologist, psychotherapist, and bestselling author.\"One of the most devastating critiques of contemporary American life that I have read.\"-Michael B. Katz Professor of History, York University\"This is a sensitive and compassionate portrayal of childhood, marriage, and adult life among the hard-working not-quite poor. It is an important contribution to our understanding of ourselves.\"-Robert S. Weiss, author of \"Marital Separation\""Lillian B. Rubin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1924. She graduated from high school at the age of 15, was able to obtain a secretarial job, and was married at the age of 19. She had a daughter and worked at various jobs for over 20 years before enrolling in college in 1963. She received a B. A. in 1967 and a Ph. D. in sociology in 1971 from the University of California, Berkeley. After receiving postgraduate training as a psychotherapist, she began a dual career as a sociological researcher and a private therapist. She became a senior research associate at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at Berkeley, where she worked for many years while writing books. She wrote a series of popular books about the crippling effects of gender and class norms on human potential. Her books include Worlds of Pain: Life in the Working-Class Family, Women of a Certain Age: The Midlife Search for Self, Intimate Strangers: Men and Women Together, Just Friends: The Role of Friendship in Our Lives, Families on the Fault Line: America's Working Class Speaks about the Family, the Economy, Race, and Ethnicity, and The Transcendent Child: Tales of Triumph over the Past. She died on June 17, 2014 at the age of 90. | Worlds Of Pain, Paperback | Indigo Chapters