Sh-t My Dad Says

By: Justin Halpern

Narrated by: Sean Schemmel

Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, 28-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his 73-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is “like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair,” has never minced words, and when Justin moved back home, he began to record all the ridiculous things his dad said to him:

“That woman was sexy...Out of your league? Son, let women figure out why they won’t screw you. Don’t do it for them.”

“Do people your age know how to comb their hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their heads and started fucking.”

“The worst thing you can be is a liar...Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is liar. Nazi one, liar two.”

More than a million people now follow Mr. Halpern’s philosophical musings on Twitter, and in this book, his son weaves a brilliantly funny, touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his quotes.

An all-American story that unfolds on the Little League field, in Denny’s, during excruciating family road trips, and, most frequently, in the Halperns’ kitchen over bowls of Grape-Nuts, Sh-t My Dad Says is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father-son relationship from a major new comic voice.

©2010 Justin Halpern (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

“If you’re wondering if there is a real man behind the quotes on Twitter, the answer is a definite and laugh-out-loud yes.” (Christian Lander, New York Times best-selling author of Stuff White People Like)

Funny!

I love this book, I found myself laughing a lot at what the dad had to say to his son. if you need a good laugh sit down with this book!

It made me laugh.

Where does Sh-t My Dad Says rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I haven't listened to many books on audible yet and this was the first funny book. The book made me laugh out loud and it was hard to put down once you started reading.

What did you like best about this story?

because it was genuine and a believable

Which scene was your favorite?

when his father took him to his speech on thyroid cancer

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

definitely wanted to sit through the whole book one time

Any additional comments?

This book is a good way to relax and take your mind off of things.

My teenage boys LOVED it!

We listened to this book as a family on a long road trip and it was hysterical! There is foul language and some risqué parts but the whole family was laughing out loud and we still talk about parts of this book. So funny!

Hilarious

Well worth the listen! Completely HILARIOUS!!!! MR. Halpern is the guy you wanna drink with and pretty much have around all day! :)

FUNNY AND DOWN TO EARTH

Would you consider the audio edition of Sh-t My Dad Says to be better than the print version?

Probably. Sean Schemmel had the right comic timing.

What other book might you compare Sh-t My Dad Says to and why?

I could say Nora Ephron, but this is funnier and more raw than her stuff.

Have you listened to any of Sean Schemmel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard him before - he's good.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The tag line would be the title: Shit My Dad Says.

Hysterically Funny

Would you listen to Sh-t My Dad Says again? Why?

Oh yes. I normally listen to books as I clean the kitchen and drive. My girlfriend and the kids have a low tolerance for this habit. However, when listening to this book, I found them all in the kitchen laughing.

Any additional comments?

Due to language, I would caution listening to it with small children around.

I don't know what all the fuss is about

While Justin Halpern's dad is funny and seems like quite a fantastic parent, I just don't know what all the fuss was about with this book. It's just not that funny to me; seems like normal witty banter between family members.

With regards to narration, I felt that Sean Schemmel dropped the ball a bit. The delivery worked in most places, but there were some stumbles. Overall, I'm not sad to reach the end.

Obviously a caring dad

If you don't cuss in your everyday life, this is a little jarring at first. The one or two sentence quotes, while clever, cannot hold a candle to the longer stories. While much of the humor (and there is LOTS of it) lies in the son's reaction to his father, there are also stories and references included that give a broader picture of his father as an individual and it is those that are priceless. The narrator does a great job of conveying the wonder, and sometimes horror, of being this extraordinary father's son. The sound quality is excellent - although you may have to rewind often to catch something you missed while laughing.

As a bonus, there are plenty of parenting take aways you can use on your own kids.

I was laughing out loud

I really enjoyed listening to this book, laughing out loud and you get that although his dad is blunt he is caring. The baseball story about Roger showed me his dad was observant.

Hilarious

At times painfully honest, yet very funny and touching. A great look at a father son relationship that will make you laugh out loud.