Home Game

An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

When he became a father, Michael Lewis found himself expected to feel things that he didn't feel, and to do things that he couldn't see the point of doing. At first, this made him feel guilty, until he realized that all around him fathers were pretending to do one thing, to feel one way, when in fact they felt and did all sorts of things, then engaged in what amounted to an extended cover-up.

Michael decided to keep a written record of what actually happened immediately after the birth of each of his three children. The book is that record. But it is also something else: maybe the funniest, most unsparing account of ordinary daily household life ever recorded from the point of view of the man inside. The remarkable thing about this story isn't that Lewis is so unusual. It's that he is so typical. It's a wonder that his wife has allowed him to publish it.

©2009 Michael Lewis (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Very entertaining book!

I really liked listening to this book. First of all in had a lot of truths, in my opinion, of how many men feel about their babies. Second, I caught myself laughing out loud a few times, which can be embarrassing when you are in public. Last I liked that he didn't pretend he presented his children just as they are - from his point of view. Well worth the listen!

Every American father should read this!

Great book, I know I'm not alone in the world now. any father who still has young kids should read this book.

Hilarious!

A quick listen, very enjoyable, a lot of LOL moments relatable to parents. Definitely worthy of a purchase

Quick Read; Perfect for New Dads/Parents

Easy listening and funny perspective on parenting from one of my favorite authors today. Listening to it while pushing my newborn son in the stroller around the neighborhood had me chuckling out loud several times. It's a quick read.

Solid, engaging story and performance

Michael Lewis knows how to write, and Dan John Miller is an excellent performer. The combination pulls you into the stories of what it means to have a small child thrust into a good life - chaos. I thought Lewis was hard on his wife, though his post at the end makes it clear she was in on the "joke". A good vignette.

Michael Lewis gives his account of fatherhood

Michael Lewis is one of those authors I have been meaning to read, but I am tired of reading about economics and I have never liked sports. So as I was looking around for something to read, I stumbled across this in the KindleUnlimited collection.

Lewis is giving his account of the changing of the meaning of fatherhood. It is no longer ‘Father Knows Best’ but hopefully is it moving past ‘father as convenient idiot’ as well. There is a huge social shift over the past couple generations. The social science research has shown a huge shift in the number of hours that fathers have increased in house work and child care over the past 50 years.

But still there is a stereotype of the distant and/or idiot Dad. Lewis both feeds into and helps break this stereotype. He is an active Dad that cares for his kids. He also highlights some of the stupid (but real) things that Dads do.

On the positive side, he communicates well the inability of fathers to replace mothers. It just isn’t possible. Men can’t birth children or breast feed. So Dads do what they can, they care for the older children, change diapers, comfort Moms.

But there is also a lot in here that just seems idiotic. Not that any father (or mother for that matter) is perfect. I am not against showing imperfection, or pointing out the problems with the whole game (as he does when he makes fun of the Berkley birthing ideal).

Maybe I am too sensitive because I am a stay at home Dad and trying to both present that model as a normal one (no one thinks stay at home Mom are unusual, so why should stay at home Dads be unusual) and one that allows men to be good parents.

So I like the presentation of the good Dad in the recent Cheerios commercial, but I am also a bit wary of the pendulum swinging too far and presenting only Super-Dads. All Dads as idiot-Dad is bad, just as all Dads as super-Dad is bad.

So I am mixed on the book. I both enjoyed it and cringed frequently. There was humor, but it wasn’t a comedy sketch like Jim Gaffigan’s Dad is Fat. It was short and sweet (although had a final chapter on getting a vasectomy that seemed thrown in primarily for laughs and was one of the more cringe-worthy chapters.)

So, I am glad I read it, but I was glad it was cheap.

A Must Read for Men Thinking About Having Kids

I got married recently and my wife and I have discussed having kids in the near future. As a result, I decided to read this book about parenting from one of my favorite authors. And Michael Lewis delivered once again! It’s witty and funny. Also on the short side too.

Entertaining

This was a funny book. It was very entertaining. I think all parents can relate to at least some of it. If you don’t laugh at least once, you need to get yourself a sense of humor.

Stand up for your manhood

Easy listen. Great book.
All men are in this together.
Don't give in. Fight for your manhood.

A superb "you are there" memoir

This is no comprehensive guide to fatherhood, but that's not the point. It's a memoir of raising one, then two, then three children – as a well-intentioned yet awkward father capturing – in exquisite detail – the craziness of fatherhood.