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May 28, 2008

Sarah rated it:

A few of these essays were brilliant pieces of writing. Moving, funny, and very clever. But you have to wade through some duds to appreciate the good stuff. Alice Bradley, Doug French, Maggie Mason, and James Griffioen's were some of my favorites.

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Jun 02, 2008

Jeanne rated it:

There were about two essays that I did not care for but the rest were very touching in one way or another. I am not close with my father and naturally have never really experienced the intimacy of fatherhood in a sense that I have motherhood. Exploring these close relationships makes me a little sad, and there's a pang of jealousy there too. However, I anticipate the future when I can witness the relationship Scott will have with our kids. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be an amazin More...

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Nov 27, 2008

Audrey rated it:

I've been looking forward to this collection for several reasons. #1, I truly enjoy Heather's blog -- she makes me laugh and think and yell WTF? on a daily basis. The topic of fatherhood really caught my attention, too, as my husband is a much more hands-on father than my dad was, and also because my dad passed away 8 years ago so there's an entirely different dynamic there now.

Overall, I wasn't that impressed. There were about three or four GOOD essays here, and the rest were just s More...

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Aug 19, 2009

Rachelle rated it:

This is a book of essays about fathers compiled and edited by Heather Armstrong (Dooce). Some stories are about being a father, some are about the writers' fathers. All of the authors are bloggers and some people have had issue with this. That many of these stories were already mostly written on the web somewhere. I didn't have an issue and I enjoyed the book. I read Dooce daily, but none of the other writer's sites, so most of this was new to me. Even the essay by Jon, Heather's husband, was ne More...

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Jul 06, 2008

Genie rated it:

When I first started reading through this essay collection, I wasn't particularly entranced with it, but it definitely grew on me. I loved, in particular, Sarah Brown's essay about her kick-arse Dad, and Jon Armstrong's essay about his relationship with his father, as well as "Long Live the Weeds and the Wilderness Yet" by James Griffioen.

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Jul 14, 2008

Tyler rated it:

I really like the essays by Heather B. Armstrong and a few of the other bloggers. Unfortunately there were a couple essays that just seemed disjointed and unrelated. I laughed while reading most essays and got a bit teary-eyed during a couple of others. It really was quite interesting to get so many different viewpoints in one little book.

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Jun 03, 2008

Sarah rated it:

I bought this book for James Griffioen's essay (blogger extraordinare of Sweet-Juniper.com), and it didn't disappoint. The essays by Heather Armstrong, Jon Armstrong, and Sarah Brown were also fun reads.

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Jun 15, 2009

Emily rated it:

A pretty good collection of essays, although, unfortunately, several of them sounded rather bloggy. (Nothing against blogs, but when I pick up a book I'd like to read a book, not a blog.) There were a few essays that had a very disjointed feel to them, and a few others with a very self-important tone to them. But others were good. By far my favorite is the peas essay :) I may go buy this book for myself just for that essay (I gave the copy I read to my dad for Father's Day). It was humorou More...

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Aug 18, 2008

Amanda rated it:

I love Dooce.com. It was the blog that sparked my need to get a blog of my own. I still read it daily and enjoy Heather's sharp wit and brutal honesty. So when I heard about this book I snatched it up right away because I was so excited to read something written by her. I knew it was a colaboration of essays from other writers/bloggers as well but was surprised to discover how little of Heather there was in the book. And while some of the entries had me rolling on the floor holding my gut i More...

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Feb 02, 2009

Tricia rated it:

There are a few decent essays in here. I like Eden Kennedy's; there are aspects of Leah Peterson's that are at least interesting, and those are just the two popping to mind, but a lot of it falls short. I feel like there is a voice on a blog whee you can get this whole sense of a person's voice that gets lost in singular essays in a book. Some of these would make perfectly good blog posts, but on the page un-surrounded by all that other fodder...just blah.

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Feb 27, 2009

Megan rated it:

I really enjoyed this. It has been awhile since I have read a collection of essays (the last was Sedaris which I did not like. I'm sorry! I know I'm supposed to like it! But I didn't!) Sadly, with two older boys and a new baby, sitting down for a ten or fifteen minute read is the perfect amount for me, and it was nice to start each reading session with someone new. I read several of the blogs by the writers, and this made some of the essays feel like they were written by old friends, which is a More...

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Dec 15, 2008

Tonya rated it:

Thank you to Katie for giving me this book for my birthday. The book was a nice compilation of essays about fatherhood. Just the kind of reading you like to do with a newborn! I especially liked the essay about the dad who saved his daughter from feral dogs in Detroit. Crazy! I need to show a few of these essays to the hubby.

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Jul 09, 2008

Laura rated it:

This book of essays was a nice read, but nothing spectacular. Some were better than others. The second-to-last one was just bizarre and rambling.

This would be a nice gift to a new father. Several of the essays written by men about being fathers were really great. I laughed out loud over some of them. The editor, Heather Armstrong, should have just gone with that theme instead of including stories by her various blogging friends about fathers and fatherhood. There was only one written More...

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Sep 20, 2008

Andarika rated it:

Got the book "fresh from the oven". It was sent by my friend in London as soon as it appear on Amazon. I think I'm one of the first Indonesian who read it. Dooce is always my number one writer. Love her blog, love her book too.

This book contains pieces of story from several coolest blog in the world. Dooce's story is unquestionably rock, but other manuscripts she chooses is also superb. She pick fatherhood as a theme, but it's actually only the wrap. In the inside we would More...

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Jun 07, 2008

Embee rated it:

No self respecting 'Doocefan' can call themselves a 'Doocefan', if they haven't read this book. Now a die-hard 'Doocefan' probably would have sent their copy of the book to Heather Armstrong herself for an autograph... And an, "I'll be a 'Doocefan' 'til the day I die", 'Doocefan' would've bought an airline ticket to Salt Lake City, Utah for her book signing yesterday. Me, I just bought the book at the local Border's and read it. I'm not some wacked out blog fan that warrants a restrain More...

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Dec 15, 2008

Dayna rated it:

I enjoyed this collection of essays about fatherhood - written by fathers, wives, sons, and daughters... Some points were especially funny or poignant, but admittedly there were other essays that left less of an impression. Get it from the library :)

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Jun 16, 2009

Lisa rated it:

A fun little read just in time for Father's Day. Not nearly as funny as Heather's own book (It sucked and then I cried), but given that this book was just a collection of different authors, I couldn't expect it to be. I wish I had one funny story from the book that I could take-away with me, or a funny quote to write in my dad's Father's Day card this weekend, but no such luck.

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Dec 14, 2008

Sar rated it:

i really enjoyed this collection of essays on parenthood. funny, sad, beautiful, a little bit of everything. there's a reason why these writers are blog celebrities.

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Apr 20, 2009

Laredo rated it:

As a dad, I saw myself too many times in these pages. Some of it was funny, some of it was blasphemous, some of it was very moving. Enjoyed it a lot.

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Nov 24, 2008

Liz rated it:

I didn't so much finish this book as give up during the last essay. I read most of this book in a couple days then had to bring myself to go back to it after a couple of boring pieces. "Hit or miss" is definitely the phrase to use. The newspaper-style block quotes bumped it from 3 to 2 stars... what an awful design!

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Dec 09, 2010

Vee rated it:

This was a really good compilation. I was entertained thoroughly by all the reflections and stories.
I am very blessed to have married a man who is an extraordinary father. He will always be there. Heart and soul. Never disconnected, never distant. Always engaged in the moment, in the daily mess, in all of it!!

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Jan 11, 2009

Svenja rated it:

Some poignant, some very funny father stories by various artists. Too bad they're not all written in Dooce's style.

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Mar 10, 2010

AudryT rated it:

Didn't feel like the same book that the description promised. I found I lacked interest in most of the content.

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Jul 30, 2008

Liz rated it:

I gave this three stars because some of the essays were better than others, which is to be expected. And the quote blocks annoyed me. I get that they're trying to grab my attention by highlighting one of the best lines, but this is not a magazine article. It's a book...that I'm already reading.

Anyway, all in all it was enjoyable and insightful, despite some unevenness (is that a word?) in the writing. If I had kids, I'd probably enjoy it even more.

NOTE: I recommended this More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Starts out light and funny and the stories gradually get darker and, unfortunately, more disjointed.

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Jul 02, 2009

Maegan rated it:

There were some very touching and humorous essays in this quick read from some of my favourite bloggers.

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Aug 21, 2008

Tiffani rated it:

This is a book compiled by Heather Armstrong, the author of dooce.com. Since I already knew that I liked her, I knew that this book would be a really fun read. It is a collection of short stories about being a father, or remembering something about the author's dad. Some of them were laugh out loud funny and some were serious. I highly recommend this book as one that you read out loud to someone. Nate and I read it together. It's enjoyable alone, but much more fun to share with someone else.
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Jun 11, 2008

Erika rated it:

Update- I finished. This is a great book. I'll warn you, there was one story that made me cry myself to sleep, but in a good way I guess.

I've been reading this one for a couple weeks now. It's not a long book, but I find when I read a compilation of short stories it takes me longer to get through everything with the lack of story that brings you back night after night. That isn't to say the stories in here are boring by any means! They are fantastic. I'm considering getting m More...

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Dec 30, 2008

Trudy marked it as to-read

This is by one of my favorite bloggers. I'm sure this book won't disappoint.

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May 01, 2009

Traci rated it:

Both happy and sad stories. Both will make you cry, unless you have no soul.

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