More Book Reviews: The Dude's Guide to Pregnancy
Posted on 16. May, 2008 by Brian Reid in General
OK, so this is turning out to be book review month around here. In addition to getting Opting In in the mail, I also received “The Dude’s Guide to Pregnancy.” I’m sure both books may be shelved in the area of the bookstore, but it’s hard to imagine two more different tomes.
“Dude” is so bad, so confused in its focus, that I have to post about it. It contains these nuggets of truly useful, interesting information that most guys don’t learn until they’re in the thick of the process, but those points are surrounded by such vulgar and sophomoric stuff that it is difficult to tell if the authors seriously want to inform men about pregnancy or if they’re just in it for the sex jokes.
But bad writing about fatherhood (or, in this case, prospective fatherhood) always has a silver lining. Somewhere out there, a book editor read “Dude” and concluded that there is a meaningful market for a book that tries to speak directly to dads. That’s progress. I think.
(If you’re in the market for books about new fatherhood that can be honest, funny and engaging without insulting your intelligence, I still think “Pop Culture” and “Be Prepared” are worth the investment.)
Surfer Jay
17. May, 2008
We read these books for some advice, some humor, and something that we can relate to. It’s nice to know what funny, touching, or difficult situations may arise while raising kids, and it’s nice to have creative writing to go along with it. But occasionally there is what we call overkill. So I will heed your words about this book and it’s style.
I just recently skimmed through a book called ‘The Poo Bomb’, (I know I should have known), every page is over-saturated with sarcasim and a complete lack of information or seriousness, so I had to toss it in the mulch pile.
Keep the reviews coming, we like well thought out advice.
LynnAlexander
19. May, 2008
I wonder if the publishers of such books think that this is necessary, to market the book? I think they should consider giving dads more credit.
Kendal
22. May, 2008
My partner and I both read Crawling: A Father’s First Year, and consider it one of the most helpful parenting books we bought. It’s not advice, just one father’s experience taking care of his daughter, written with a sense of humor. It helped my partner overcome most of his fears of fatherhood and reminded us both that raising a baby isn’t brain surgery.
Tim
28. May, 2008
My brother just gave me The Dudes’ Guide to Pregnancy as a gift. I read it and laughed my ass off. Which, with a title like that, I’m sure was the point. I’ve also been given just about every pregnancy book for men ever written by my mother who is an Amazon addict.
You’re complaining that a book that’s intended to be vulgar and sophomoric is, well, vulgar and sophomoric. I thought the humor in that book was above an beyond several of the other books I’ve been given, and the sarcastic approach to what I’m going through right now was exquisite.
I’ve also got “Be Prepared”. That’s a completely different book altogether. While it’s good, you can’t really compare the two. The pathetic attempts at humor in “Pop Culture” were almost worse than the horrible “My Boys Can Swim,” which you didn’t mention.
Melanie Webb
22. Apr, 2009
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