Things I Learned About My Dad: Humorous and Heartfelt Essays, edited by the creator ofwww.dooce.com | 
| Creator: Heather B. Armstrong
Publisher: Kensington
Category: Book
List Price: $19.00
Buy New: $10.85
You Save: $8.15 (43%)
New (18) Used (3) from $10.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 1882
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 270
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0758216599
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.8742
EAN: 9780758216595
ASIN: 0758216599
Publication Date: May 1, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: K20080516225536G
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
Compiled by Heather B. Armstrong, award-winning publisher and uber-mistress of the phenomenally popular dooce.com, this hilarious and heartwarming celebration of "everything dad" features original stories from some of the country's most celebrated bloggers, including Alice Bradley (Finslippy) Doug French (Laid Off Dad), Maggie Mason (Mighty Girl), Matthew Baldwin (Defective Yeti), Sarah Brown (Que Sera Sera), and more. From a new father's comparison of pregnancy to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, to a mother's story of bravely surviving a husband-son infatuation with Star Wars, to the mini triumphs and tragedies of toddlerhood, this book provides a unique, no-holds-barred glimpse into the quirks and candid moments of modern dads. Whether we relish or fear growing up to be like our fathers...whether we've inherited his nose, sense of humor, or entire value system, our dads loom large in who we are and the choices we make. Things I Learned about my Dad in Therapy touches upon the many joys and discoveries of fatherhood, one essay at a time.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Not uneven, but not uniform May 14, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I preordered this book the moment I heard about it. I have the privilege of knowing Defective Yeti in person, and read the other bloggers regularly enough to know that I would enjoy the book. And I did--as much as I enjoy checking their blogs each and every day. Just like the blogs, the book sometimes made me laugh, cry or occasionally shrug and turn to the next one.
Some of the authors submitted posts used on their blogs, spruced up for the print edition. That's great--I'm more than willing to finally pay for the entertainment I've been enjoying for free. Others shared entirely new information. Laid off Dad's essay had me reaching for the tissue and rushing to the computer to check if it was true. I hadn't read some of the authors before the book, and now I have new sites to check, new lives to peek into.
This is a great collection of personal stories written by brave, talented writers. I'm so excited for all of them that they were published, and I'm so grateful to them for sharing their stories. I will buy a print edition of anything most of them writes, as a show of support and because I think it's worth it.
 Blah. May 14, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Her blog is much better than this book. I got it as a gift, thankfully. I would have been frustrated had I paid for it. The essays written by the other authors are all pretty bland, not coming close to Heather's brand of humor. I ended up starting to read them and then would stop less than half way through. The pieces written by Heather were the best ones.
If you are going to buy this expecting it to be entertaining like Heather's site, you'll be disappointed.
fun, could have been more May 12, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I did enjoy the variety of stories, and it kept me motivated to read the next short essay...but it could have gone deeper, and I would have enjoyed more from Heather and Jon. While this book is not going to bounce her into any kind of stardom, I believe her talent for entertainment is real. This idea just didn't work as well as it could have. However, for those Dooce fans, worth the read.
I wanted to love this book. May 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm a huge dooce fan and religiously read her blog, along with many of her contributors' blogs, every single day. So no one was more surprised than me that I have found the book to be so...blah.
I was touched by Doug French's column on divorce, especially since I am such a fan of his wife's blog.
And while I had high hopes for Greg Allen's piece, ultimately I was un-moved by his quest to create, among other things, a mini-Bugaboo stroller.
Heather's pieces did not disappoint and hopefully her next book will just be her writing.
Wanted to Love It... But Didn't May 12, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was very excited for this compilation -- most of my year is spent buying grad school text books and things I don't necessarily deem "fun." On top of that, I really wanted all of these authors to succeed. Several of the authors' blogs are on my most-read list, and a couple of them are individuals whose words have really touched me in times when I needed it most (Heather Armstrong is one of those authors).
Unfortunately, in many cases that did not translate to the printed page. I was disappointed that much of Armstrong's contribution was published on her blog (for free, as someone previously noted), and Alice Bradley's essay in WonderTime, to which I subscribe. That eliminated quite a bit of the best writing in this book. I enjoyed a few of the other essays, but several just seemed to hint that perhaps the editor was hesitant to edit these online celebrities... or the essays were beyond saving, regardless of editing.
The fact that I was able to support these folks in what they aspire to do, however, still makes me happy. To those who comment on Dooce's "self-promotion," she's a business woman whose commodity happens to be herself and her words. She's entitled to promote herself. While I don't consider myself a diligent Dooce devotee, her words have pulled me through difficult times as a mother and I respect the ambition she and Jon Armstrong have in tailoring their family according to THEIR rules. These reviews are not intended to rate your feelings about Heather Armstrong (if they were, I'd tack on another star). They should rate the work.
|
|
|
