The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success

New York Times Magazine staff writer Dominus debuts with an affecting inquiry into how nature, nurture, and luck commingle in the lives of high-achieving siblings through profiles of six families. She finds that successful siblings push one another toward success. For instance, she tells how in the Murguía household, eldest son Alfred helped his younger brothers—who went on to become a federal judge and a philanthropist—learn the ropes at the University of Kansas even after he secretly dropped out so he could work to help pay the family’s bills. Sibling competition can also be formative, Dominus suggests, discussing how Olympic triathlete Sarah Groff took to sports as a way of distinguishing herself from her academically inclined older siblings. Dominus is an expert storyteller whose nuanced family portraits acknowledge the emotional toll that often accompanies her subjects’ achievements. For instance, Dominus writes that while Ying Chen, whose children became a doctor and a wealthy businessman, viewed music lessons as valuable beyond their status as an extracurricular stepping stone to an Ivy League school, she would still sometimes fly into an “unnerving, unchecked rage” and hit her kids with “whatever was handy” when they didn’t practice. Empathetic and written with a novelist’s knack for characterization, this entrances. Agent: Elyse Cheney, Cheney Agency. (May)