'Why Do I Love These People?'

Author Po Bronson Shows Glass Is Half Full In New Book About Family

(CBS)  The holidays are a time for family get-togethers, but these celebrations can be tough for some who feel their family relationships aren't greeting-card perfect.

In his new book, "Why Do I Love These People?" author Po Bronson teaches readers to re-evaluate the way to look at family and the insights gained in doing so.

Bronson tells The Early Show, "The goal was to raise the art of storytelling and show these families — not in a Dr. Phil kind of way — but show that the whole experience can be beautiful. And, to even try to be part of a family is a hero's journey."

To write the book he interviewed about 700 families by phone and correspondence.

"From those I chose about 50 to 60 to meet with in person," he said. "And then I narrowed those down to 34 families I met with in person. I continued to talk with them for about two-and-a-half years, which isn't that monumental when you're looking for a good story."

These families had real issues like divorce or were one-parent families, he says. They had tough things to work through.

"Finding these stories challenged me. I didn't have an agenda," he says. "I picked stories that tested my perception and taught me something. If something resonated for me, I thought it would resonate for others. The stories had to have veracity. I could see the families work through real problems over time. And their journeys don't have the shiny newness that gets them into the media or attention. We forget to record the accessible."

Bronson believes that Americans have a doom and gloom attitude about families today.

"We gripe about today's family, but I found that people were worried about families as far back as 1820s," he says. "Every generation puts a different spin on things. If you think about the Brady Bunch, they all looked happy. But think about how they became the Brady Bunch, both partners lost their spouses. We need to stop comparing ourselves to the mythic family and compare ourselves to real families.

"Sociologists show the glass half empty. I wanted to show the glass can be half full. I wanted to show the people I know, and show them go through hardship to make something better. I found out there's more variety to happy endings than I'd realized."

Bronson wants readers to know that there is value to family life and "Family is worth the sacrifice and all you have to go through to have it." He adds: "These people helped me find my calling for family. It's about dealing with weird family members, about griping about them and living through family experience — not shrinking from it."