Book Review: Fathermucker
Media Type: Print Book
Title: Fathermucker
Author: Greg Olear
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Pages: Paperback; 312
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Source: TLC Book Tours
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Intended Reading Group: Adult
Genre: Fiction
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HDB Rating: 5 Keys to My Heart
Recommended to: Stay at home parents, or those who appreciate the plight of stay at home parents! Be warned, there is some “language”.
Add it on: Goodreads / Shelfari / Librarything /Amazon / B&N
A day in the life of a dad on the brink: Josh Lansky—second-rate screenwriter, fledgling freelancer, and stay-at-home dad of two preschoolers—has held everything together while his wife is away on business . . . until this morning’s playdate, when he finds out through the mommy grapevine that she might be having an affair. What Josh needs is a break. He’s not going to get one.
Josh Lansky is a SAHD. Yep. That stands for Stay-At-Home-Dad, but lets just say that it isn’t the only thing that acronym implies. Fathermucker is just the best kind of novel. It’s a fictional story, but one that so many people will connect with! Mothers, fathers, people who aren’t even parents but work with children. Each person will find their own hilarious piece of this Josh’s story to fall in love with.
Greg Olear manages to squeeze every minute and mundane detail about a day in the life of a stay at home parent into this book. Being a person who is not yet married, and one who hasn’t started a family yet, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to really immerse myself in Fathermucker. Wrong. Maybe it’s my history of working with children, but I found myself cracking up during Josh Lansky’s comments about his daily life. From debating on whether or not to shower or eat (there’s never time for both), to his inner thoughts on the people around him, I fell in love with every aspect of his musings. Josh Lansky isn’t perfect. His flaws are bared for all to see.
What really brought extra life to this story though is that Josh Lansky doesn’t just have one child, he has two, and one of them has Asperger’s Syndrome. I loved how much information about this syndrome was present in the book, and how honest Greg Olear was about how it changed the family dynamic. Josh Lansky has a fierce love for this children in this book. He’s a father who, despite the exhaustion and slight mental breakdown, knows his kids inside and out. This is a book about family, about parenting, about marriage, and even about how thoughts sometimes (despite the fierce love) wander back to the time before children. As I said, brutally honest. Just also hilariously done.
The references to pop culture in Fathermucker are many, and Greg Olear’s ability to create the real world around his characters are fantastic. Reading this book is like watching a movie. I know authors are always going for the “show don’t tell” method when writing. Kudos to Olear! A day in the life of his character, Josh Lansky, is complete with Facebook, Noggin, McDonalds, and the all important Moka Java for those poor exhausted parents.
I’m rambling I know, and I’m not even sure I’ve done justice to this book. Here’s what I’ll wrap it up with. This is a hilarious book. It’s honest, it’s funny, it’s a look into the life that most parents live but try not to share with the outside world. Yes, there is some language that people might be offended by, but it is a male point of view after all. I for one enjoyed it immensely, and hope that you will too!
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.
