Daditude

Wise, wry, and witty essays on fatherhood from Chris Erskine, the beloved columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. “Charming, well written, concise, and to the point. Perfect for anyone who enjoys stories of fatherhood.” — Library Journal Life is never peaceful in Chris Erskine's house, what with the four kids, 300-pound beagle, chronically leaky roof, and long-suffering wife, Posh. And that's exactly the way he likes it, except when he doesn't. Every week in the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune (and now and then in many other papers), Erskine distills, mocks, and makes us laugh at the absurdities of suburban fatherhood. And now, he's gathered the very best of these witty and wise essays—and invited his kids (and maybe even Posh) to annotate them with updated commentary, which they promise won't be too snarky. This handsome book is the perfect gift for the father who would have everything—if he hadn't already given it all to his kids.

We need more dads! The Dad School defines the word dad as a supportive father. This book helps future and current fathers become dads. Children benefit from supportive fathers. Let’s help children have fathers who support the process of raising them. Let’s make more dads!

In 1932, a farmer named George Washington Perry decided it was too rainy to plow and went fishing. That day, George landed the largest largemouth ever recorded—twenty-two pounds four ounces. The fish has inspired and frustrated hundreds of anglers for decades. They’ve dedicated their lives to the pursuit of “Sowbelly”—a nearly mythical fish, whose swinelike girth holds the key to their dreams. From an L.A. cop who came within ounces of besting the record to an Alabaman who has lost his marriage and his daughter to this pursuit, Burke takes readers along for the ride in this legendary race.

A lighthearted but serious look at the real-life conflicts today's business executives have with the people they love.

Jennifer Flagg has never considered herself more than a mediocre medium. Even her crazy blended family thinks her ability to talk to the recently deceased is nothing more than an annoying quirk. When she's drawn to the scene of a murder, Jen quickly discovers the business of talking to the dead is a whole lot more complicated when there's a body still attached. Her detective boyfriend wants her to stay out of police business. The dead guy wants her to help find his killer. And all the murderer wants is to put Jennifer permanently out of business. Can an amateur sleuth find a happy medium between her suddenly changing paranormal world and her unstable personal life? The spirits on the other side might have the answers, but wouldn't you know it, they're the only ones not telling her what to do.

Her daddy always said her impulsive nature would get her into serious trouble one day. Until now it was mostly minor, insignificant, easily fixed ways, but even Jennifer can’t deny she might have pushed her luck a mite too far this time. When Valentine’s Night delivers much more than roses and romance, Jennifer Flagg finds herself in a predicament where she can only watch the events she set into motion as they effect her life and everyone else’s around her. Much to her everlasting astonishment, she finds comfort and camaraderie with the most unlikely candidates and quickly discovers the rules she’d previously learned for talking to the already dead don’t apply when dealing with the almost dead, especially when she’s now one of them.

A celebration of suburban fatherhood shares humorous observations about such topics as post-marital sex, babysitters, and parenting large families.