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Helping dads to know best
REVIEWS BY JAMES NEAL WEBB It's a widely held belief that dads know everything. This is true, of course, but such knowledge doesn't come easy, and it doesn't hurt to get a little help. We wise fathers will get our own fathers on the phone in the rare event that we don't know the answer to something. You can't get that kind of advice from a book, but you can try, so I'd like to introduce you to two noble efforts.
By Dina Fayer and Bob Fayer Quirk Books, $12.95 176 pages ISBN 1594740925
By David Bowers Workman, $10.95 256 pages ISBN 0761136673
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Whether you're a wise old hand or a terrified newbie, Pocket Dad: Everyday Wisdom, Practical Tips, & Fatherly Advice, has tons of practical advice on things dads are just expected to know. Dina Fayer and her dad, Bob Fayer, share basic tips on picking out good tools and good cars, cutting wood and cutting the lawn, fishing, dating, barbecuing and building sand castles. There's even a section on telling those awful "Dad Jokes." What a great book!
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David Bowers looks at the duties of fatherhood from a contemporary perspective in Dad's Own Housekeeping Book: 137 Bright Ideas. This book is for the "Mr. Moms" of the world, or for those who just want to be more involved in tidying up the home front. As a single dad for 15 years before my remarriage, I wish I'd had a book like this. Bowers shows housekeeping neophytes the difference between a mop and a Swiffer; he also explains why there's more to cleaning a toilet than wiping off the seat, and how cooking is really a defense mechanism against cranky youngsters. He describes the "Felix Unger" method for doing any household task, but at the same time provides a quick checklist for changing an imminent grandparent visit from a housekeeping disaster into an illusion of cleanliness. You can't beat that kind of practical advice.