The Father You Get

And the Ones You Make, Believe In, and Become

De: Patton Dodd

Narrado por: Patton Dodd

What is it about fathers and father figures that looms so large in the lives of so many? So wonders Patton Dodd in this intimate reflection and memoir in which he wrestles with a dad-sized hole, the gap between the father he yearned to have and the father he got—an absent-while-present alcoholic whose unreliability caused chaos for everyone around him.

This struggle with the father he was given led to a variety of substituted: fathers he created, from an imaginary "Papa Friend" to male mentors he turned into father figures. Then there's the father he believed in, a Heavenly Father, made present by the steadfast and stubborn faith of his earthly mother. And finally, there is the father Dodd became when he had his own children, an experience that led him to track down the source and mystery of the father he got.

Throughout, Dodd's story resonates for anyone who struggles with the fathers they got, the fathers they wish they had—and anyone struggling to become the parent they hope to be. A lyrical, emotional meditation on the failures and glories of dadhood, The Father You Get is an extended wrestling match with the mysteries of a distant parental figure and an attempt to bridge the gap between the fathers we get and the fathers our hearts yearn for.

©2025 Patton Dodd (P)2025 Christian Audio

The Father You Get: The Book That Became A Highway

The author and I attended the same university for a time. Though we were not close friends, my encounters with Patton, despite their brevity, provided the assurance I needed that my Audible credit would not be wasted. So i gladly purchased and immediately dove into his story full speed ahead.

I am a physically disabled person and much of my childhood was devoted to orthoprdic surgeries and the long recooperation process. This is where I developed my preference for biography over other literary genres. For me, biography provided a needed inspiration that fiction and other genres couldn't. Yet, if you become a connoisseur of biography, you quickly realize not all biographies/autobiographies are equal. But there are certain qualities that set true and meaningful biographies apart from the others. Memorable and meaningful autobiographies have at least as many questions as answers. They don't seek to make everything nice, neat and tidy with "the magic answer" strategically located at the end, Instead, the value of the story is found primarily in the journey and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

Dodd's book isn't just your run-of the-mill inspirational story, though there are plenty of moments of inspiration along the way. Instead, it is a much needed autograph that models the value of looking in the mirrorin an honest attempt to learn and truly grow from life ---ESPESIALLY WHEN NOTHING SEEMS FAIR OR JUST! Patton could have presented himself as the know-it-all hero with all the answers. Instead he shares his struggles with deliberate vulnerability. While the book doesn't end with canned answers, what it does offer is HOPE. It is not the false hope of formula, but the hope of discovery that even at the lowest moments when it seems as if no one is there to even care, Jesus is indeed weaving the story in a way to turn the tragedy of even other's choices over which we had NO CONTROL into something for his glory.

This is NOT a self-help book; but if you dare read it you will be helped and changed by it. It's not a curriculum resource, but Patton's story teaches through one of the most powerful tools of all, personal story. There is no lecture; just candid honesty modeled for all of us to learn from and be changed by it.

Thank you Patton for this great listen, even if I HAD to put everything else on hold until I finished it! I bet if you buy this book you will be unable to turn it off until your finished, or at least almost finished. I know because I was that guy. The book was so captivating, I had finished most of it the first day and finished the rest over the weekend! If you want to read or listen to something you can't put down, GET THIS TITLE!

Rich with insight, sincerity and depth.

Whatever your origin story, Patton’s reflections and insights are so sincere, authentic and relatable, you will walk away enriched and inspired. Hearing it read by Patton added a special dimension to an already captivating and very personal journey. I highly recommend listening to this audio book!

A Hard but Rewarding Hike for your Soul

This is a book that I have been living myself (same song, different verse). Patton puts words to emotions, events, and senses that are lived but lost, and captures and shows them and makes stories about them, making you wonder if his story isn’t in fact more real and relatable than your own story and your own memories.

This is a book that I listened to, and had to stop listening to several times, as the topic (and the often cracking voice narrating it) became too real time after time. Patton paints his mom as the heroine in this story, and she certainly is, but, I’m sure as Patton’s character is explicitly but unintentionally revealed to his children and future grandchildren, and the reader, the true hero of this book will stand out.

Patton said that at his mom’s funeral, person after person stated that she was their best friend. Such utterances will be said again, and may have even been said already by those who have been touched by Patton. Some people aren’t lucky. But sometimes other people are lucky, by the father *they* get. Maybe Patton’s dad’s prayer to “make me a man” wasn’t answered for himself, but instead was a prayer that his son would be the answer to, in his stead.