May 20, 2013
Two parents squirm their way into contemporary American adulthood in this hilarious and heartfelt account. Deadspin and GQ columnist Magary (The Postmortal) writes with his usual panache and en-dearing vulgarity on a variety of stories about his nuclear family, but never shies away from a tender moment. Whether he is correcting his children's pizza-making abilities or teaching them the sheer joys of "petty vandalism", Magary and his wife puzzle out the complexities and nuances of parenthood. The volume is bookended by the tale of the youngest sonâwho requires "disemboweling" due to a rare conditionâand the fragility and beauty of life is underscored by the honest and endearing anec-dotes throughout. Realizing that "baby helmets are a rotten lie" even after cracking his daughter's head against a doorframe in a daycare center, Magary gets to the story's core: what is required of these young parents is not an ultra-conservative, over-protective approach, or even one that allows kids to "do as many things on their own as humanly possible." The crux of their care-giving is altruism and providing genuine love, even if that care comes from an individual dressed as "a slow guy", drinking while trick-or-treating with his children: vulgar parenting at its best.
April 15, 2013
The pride and pitfalls of contemporary fatherhood. The panic of emergency surgery on a premature baby with a rare intestinal disorder resonates from the riveting first chapter of novelist Magary's (The Postmortal, 2011, etc.) memoir. The scene captures the author's knack for electric prose as he dictates the wild, wooly world of parenthood. Magary doesn't mince words about the many blissfully unencumbered years of marriage before he and his wife had children ("You can live cheaply. You can do drugs. You're mobile, with no goddamn kids anchoring you to one location. You can even get divorced with a minimum of fuss"), freely partaking of spontaneous beach trips and a particular Oasis concert the writer recalls with an acerbic, fork-tongued wit many readers will either love or hate. Potent anecdotes about their first child are laugh-out-loud funny, but when coupled with the descriptive ordeal of a second child by C-section, Magary's life becomes awash in baby monitors, an unfortunate DUI, head lice and toddler conflict resolution. A healthy sense of humor and a modern outlook on life is necessary to "get" much of what irks the author about being a parent in a memoir that shines with refreshing realness. For all his potty-mouthed, free-form commentary, Magary demonstrates a noble belief in love, honor and freeze-framing moments with kids who always seem to grow up way too fast. Missteps and foibles aside, the author admits to being happy and grateful as a family man, "even if it isn't as fun a life as when you were single and drinking shots...in the Giants Stadium parking lot." An outspoken dad's brassy, wise and painfully honest view from the top of the family tree.
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