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Aug 15, 2009

Ceridwen rated it:

Talking about your children in public is like talking about sex: it's Freudian as hell, the things you say tend to be gendered, and you upset your audience with all the stickiness, cussing, and genitals. But like sex talk, it can be totally fun, as Lewis' book shows. When I was pregnant with my first kid, my mother gave me the best advice I've ever heard about parenting: never read parenting books. I ignored her, of course, choosing instead to learn from hard experience. I ended up embroiled in More...

13 comments like (15 people liked it)

Feb 15, 2009

Jackie rated it:

This is a hilarious account of learning to be a father in the 21st century. I actually gave this book to a guy friend of mine who is struggling with the idea of marriage and fatherhood in the near future, and he stayed up all night reading and laughing, which is amazing since he's even more of a reluctant reader than he is a reluctant grownup. Myself, I was able to read it in just a few hours--it's light and amusing but makes some real points about the naturalness of maternity versus the lear More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Nancy rated it:

I think I was meant to be a father. I sympathize completely with Michael Lewis's take on the divide between what men are supposed to feel upon becoming a father and what they actually do feel. "Maternal love may be instinctive," he says, "but paternal love is learned behavior." He admits to feelings of indifference, resentment and even "the odd Murderous Impulse."

Be assured, Mr. Lewis, that you're writing for a certain portion of the maternal community, More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Anne added it

My husband is a fan of Michael Lewis's books, in particular Moneyball and The Blind Side, so when I saw that Lewis had a book about fatherhood, I figured it would be a good one for him to check out. I think I was right. As he read in bed next to me, he laughed out loud and even read me a couple passages (usually one of my annoying habits that I really appreciate seeing in others). He finished the book quickly, and mostly took away from it that Ferberizing is out of date, and that having more More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2010

Michael rated it:

When I read this book, I was a new dad. Seven weeks or so. I had a lot of doubts and feelings that I was embarrassed of (nothing major, just not understanding how I could get so frustrated so easily), and this book landed in my lap at the right time (Father's Day). Although it's not written as a simple pop psychology how-to book, that's the role it filled for me. I related to it so strongly that I can't really review the book on its merits.

I related to it so strongly because Lewis's s More...

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Nov 04, 2009

Tony rated it:

It's kind of interesting that two excellent Berkeley-based writers named Michael both happened to come out with a book of ruminations on modern fatherhood (and its corollary, manhood) within a few months of each other. Since we added a second child to our own household a few months ago, and I'm now on (unpaid) leave to take care of him for a few months, this struck me as a good time to check out what two writers I greatly respect have to say on my current profession. (The other book is Michael C More...

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Jul 26, 2009

Brian rated it:

A few hilariously funny anecdotal stories aside, this book by Michael Lewis is poison. While somewhat entertaining, and an extremely easy and quick read, this book provides little insight into 'real' fatherhood. It does little more than propagate the hideous fallacy that only mothers can be the true nurturers and care-givers for our children, and any attempts by a man to do so can only be inadequate. Furthermore, Lewis would have you believe if you are a father and you do feel confident in takin More...

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Jun 04, 2009

RandomAnthony rated it:

I have a request. Do NOT buy Home Team for anyone as a Father’s Day gift. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT. Thank you.

Here’s why:

• This book is no-thought-necessary present for people who don’t know shit about the father in question. If you knew anything about the father in question, you would know he doesn’t want this book.
• The father doesn’t want this book if he’s a reader. The gauzy cover with the author drinking coffee while his child sits on his lap screams “Not a More...

17 comments like (16 people liked it)

May 30, 2009

Mike rated it:

Quite funny, and slight--which is not a snipe but a statement of fact. I loved these short, ragged essays the first time I read (the bulk of) them at Slate, and it was nice to see the rough arc across them.

Lewis is consistently funny--and not just because kids testing out profanities in shame-inducing contexts is funny, 'though we all could certainly stipulate that a sweet little child screaming some ungrammatical variant of "MOTHERFUCK" is invariably funny, unless it is More...

9 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2009

Brian rated it:

This book has no direction or purpose other than to state and defend what I believe to be the truest words ever spoken about family planning: "Memory loss is the key to human reproduction. If you remembered what new parenthood was actually like you wouldn't go around lying to be people about how wonderful it is, and certainly wouldn't ever do it twice." Lewis, the author of contemporary sports classics Moneyball and The Blind Side, provides vignettes of his experience raising three gir More...

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Nov 14, 2009

Shannon rated it:

Not many men write about fatherhood. And the ones who do write about it are rarely as honest as Michael Lewis. My husband brought this book home from the library and after he read part of the introduction aloud to me, I knew I wanted to read it after he finished. If I knew more men who read, I would buy this book for them. Sadly, very few of the dads I know would take the time to read this book, slim tome though it is.

So I'll just have to hope some fathers or fathers-to-be happ More...

1 comment like

Feb 19, 2010

Katrina rated it:

Funny, honest, glib, self-centered (although this is acknowledged) account of fatherhood. I found myself laughing out loud at some of his stories. Lewis broke the book into three sections - one for each of his three children - but I found that most of his stories focus on his first-born. I cannot tell whether this is due to how he and his wife split the "division of labor" or because much of the lives of your successive children are intermingled with that of your first born. His wi More...

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Dec 07, 2010

Joseph rated it:

I'm not really sure why I read this. I'm not a father, and it seems increasingly likely that I'll never be one. I've liked Lewis' previous writing (although I've only read Moneyball, The Big Short, and a few of his articles), so maybe I was just hoping for a fresh take on a somewhat stale genre.

Instead, Lewis provides exactly what you might expect: a collection of humorous vignettes about a dumb father (a la Homer Simpson), his precocious kids, and his put-upon wife. It's certainly amu More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Brian rated it:

Taking new-fatherly sentiments to an extreme, which can be funny or horrifying...

Depending on several factors, readers may enjoy or detest this book. I can totally see that. But just make the assumption that he's not really as detached and defeated a man as he appears, and the read is actually quite humorous. Well, maybe you do need to be a father to at least appreciate where his extreme sentiments come from, but if you can at least identify with feeling superfluous in the delivery room, trying More...

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Jun 13, 2009

Richard rated it:

I wonder if Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point) who wrote a raving comment for the jacket of this book and I read the same book. I do not think Mr. Lewis is the "finest storyteller of our generation".

His guide to fatherhood reads like a series of newspaper columns, although, indeed, they are from a Web magazine he contributes to. Some are mildly amusing; just not those where he proudly recalls his little girls quoting his worst potty-mouthed, rapper ghetto-speak. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 23, 2010

Jacob rated it:

There were only about 30 books at the Logan Airport newsstand and this was the best looking one. I don't know why there wasn't a bookstore in the terminal of a major American airport, but there wasn't. I've liked the other books of Lewis's more than this one, and this wasn't bad. "It was ok" as the 2 star rating says.

I wasn't wicked excited to read it, but it was short, paperback, and had the possibility of being interesting. It is now a week later and I don't really remem More...

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Jul 29, 2010

Jonathan rated it:

A breezy, fun read that can easily be enjoyed in a sitting or two. Lewis steers clear of the overpopulated "personal epiphany" class of parenting books ("...and that special moment was when I really knew I loved my child!") and instead just shares anecdotes about his experiences as a father.

Lewis wins points for his honesty about his experience; he writes about the frustration of the modern father, who does not automatically feel all of the Right Emotions at the R More...

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Jun 16, 2010

Alyshia rated it:

I'm surprised this book has as many negative ratings as it does - I thought it was incredibly well written, funny, and easy to read. For example, his story about his three year old screaming "SHUT YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE" in the middle of a kiddie pool at a group of pre-teen boys was kind of the greatest thing ever.

I do think the book's back-cover description isn't done very well; this is more a collection of disconnected stories about Lewis' kids than it is a coheren More...

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Dec 09, 2009

Brian rated it:

As always, Michael Lewis is insightful and delightful. It was the first book about parenthood I connected with, as I felt so many are written towards mothers or written for people who don't read. This was explicitly about the struggles of trying to be relevant and helpful when you're really a side-show for the first act of parenthood.

It was a collection of articles consolidated into a book, but that structure felt fine for me. Each was written long enough to have thorougly cover More...

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Mar 24, 2010

Alanna rated it:

I'm not sure if this was a really fast read, or if I'm just a much faster reader when you put me on a plane for eight hours with no kids. In any case, this was fun and I definitely enjoyed it. It's always nice to hear about the foibles of other people parenting so that I can pat myself on the back and say, "At least my kids haven't done that!" (Never mind the fact that his kids are older than mine, so there's actually plenty of time for that to still happen!) My favorite essay was More...

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Jun 24, 2009

Chad rated it:

I hate to ever use the phrase "must-read" for anything, as tastes in books often wind up being a subjective thing, leaving no such room really for a "must" anything. However, I will break that personal rule in this case, and go ahead and declare Michael Lewis's "Home Game" a must-read, though with a caveat: it's a must-read for any one who became a Dad in the last ten years.

Bonus #1: it's less than 200 pages, a breezy read, and Lewis is a brilliant wr More...

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May 31, 2009

Andy rated it:

This is quite an entertaining and quick read. Lewis, a respected sportswriter, speaks of his experiences with his kids for the first several years after their birth. He holds nothing back. He talks about the problems that come up, and the struggles he experiences just trying to get through life with kids. It's interesting that it's a tell-all book about his little kids. The kids don't come off looking good, but that's what's particularly valuable about this book. Who is brave enough to tell what More...

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Jun 24, 2009

Eric_W rated it:

Teaser: If you have a weak mind, are unable to turn off your "I am sooo offended brain cells", wear polyester shorts, have plastic on your furniture, and just can't bear to see a naughty word, skip this review.

Take 1: My wife and I are listening to this while driving up into Minnesota on vacation (mixed in with some of my favorite old Booknotes shows with Brian Lamb -- the guy is the best, bar none, interviewer around -- when she nods off.) She's not nodding off because of More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2010

Patrick rated it:

Reading Home Game, I wondered if Michael Lewis was aware that he’s not a normal person anymore, or if he’d simply spent too much time married to MTV News correspondents, hobnobbing with Wall Street bankers, rubbing shoulders with superstars of football and baseball, and jet-setting with wealthy college boosters to know what it’s like to be a normal father and husband. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy Home Game—it’s a breezy read filled with interesting and humorous anecdotes that, even if More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 18, 2010

Dwhren rated it:

I love it when I go through a spate of good books. This book was the most recent of several books in a row that I have really enjoyed. Too often I'm on the other end where I'm reading a bunch of not-so-good books in a row. The book is of stories Lewis wrote about his 3 children when they were small. Many of them were previously published in Slate magazine. Although he fleshes out the book with some previously unpublished tales. The book is broken up into three sections each encompassing sto More...

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Sep 05, 2009

Ted rated it:

I enjoyed reading this book, even if Mr. Lewis is someone that I would probably not get along with--he is too California, and too Yuppy,yep, I said that. But, his honesty and humor are fantastic. And he gets it right. So many of his situations rang true to my own experiences, and sadly, I guess, to my feelings at the time as well. So I now know, that like him, I am certainly far from the world's greatest dad, because when, for example, Jared was born, I was much more pre-occupied with the la More...

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May 23, 2010

Michael rated it:

An interesting and amusing, if slight, book on the joys on fatherhood. Lewis is an excellent writer - his work on the intricacies of the stock market crashes is accessible and illuminating - but this is a bit throwaway to be honest. For every "that's what I was thinking" anecdote and wry smile from me as I read it, there's some nonsense on how how difficult he found family life. In fairness, his description belonged in an aspirational soap - a job that pays well and requires few enough More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Craig rated it:

- a very quick read. Finished it in a 3 hour flight and that included a small mid-air nap.

- some incredibly funny anecdotes. A couple almost made me laugh out loud.

But really, that is all this book is. A series of anecdotes, some funny, some merely amusing. Any lessons that the author may have learned and is trying to pass on feel a bit shallow (as does the author in this text, honestly. But that is a rant of a different kind.).

As a new father, I do h More...

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Nov 02, 2010

Cynthia rated it:

This is a fearless and a hilarious look at fatherhood. I laughed out loud several times.Lewis has an amazing way of capturing both the trials and the joys of being a parent, the good and the bad, and the feelings you don't dare tell anyone you have. (I especially admired his wife Tabitha Soren for letting her post-partum panic and depression be portrayed.) I think this could have been a longer book, though: some of the chapters, like the section in Paris, felt like they could have been developed More...

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Jul 12, 2009

Andrew rated it:

Read mostly on a couple June plane flights, this book by Liar's Poker author Michael Lewis felt truer and more candid toward the beginning, and more like serial magazine pieces written under deadline toward the end, where its grumbling populism seems exhibitionist and forced. That's probably appropriate -- it's fairly clear that the early diaristic entries were observations secreted in some notebook under the duress of paternal supervisions, such that they were. The rest was serialized for Slate More...

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