THE past few years have seen a spate of authors attempting to spend a year living by biblical law, forgoing sex, spending only 拢50 a day and so on. This is another such book. Susan Maushart鈥檚 shtick is to wean herself and her three teenage children off the internet, mobile phones, television and the like for six months.
Predictably, the road to Walden Pond is rocky. Maushart鈥檚 children rebel, but eventually meals are eaten together, board games are played and her son revives his interest in playing the saxophone. It鈥檚 a classic rebirth plot, the one these stunt-stories usually follow.
What puzzles me is why Maushart chose to write the book in the style of Bridget Jones, complete with 鈥渘ote to self鈥�, 鈥渧鈥� for 鈥渧ery鈥�, and lists of foods eaten. It鈥檚 a shame; the fluffy style gets in the way of her insights about technology鈥檚 impact on a family.
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The Winter of our Disconnect: How one family pulled the plug on their technology and lived to tell/text/tweet the tale
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