Dad: A Novel [Paperback]

William Wharton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1996

A story of the love that binds generations of fathers and sons, Dad celebrates the universe of possibilities within every individual life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brilliantly constructed, immediate and moving, painful and funny, and finally deeply cathartic. -- Allen Lacy, San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

William Wharton is the bestselling author of eight novels, including Birdy, Dad, A Midnight Clear, Scumbler, Pride, Tidings, Franky Furbo, and Last Lovers and two memoirs, Ever After and Houseboat on the Seine. A native of Philadelphia, his works have been acclaimed worldwide and have been translated into over 15 languages. He lives in France.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (July 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155704256X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557042569
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bowled over, September 14, 2004

By 

Dave Plassman "bookshine" (Moses Lake, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dad: A Novel (Paperback)

Dad snuck up and bit me. I found it uneven. It is a book to be taken apart and studied in chunks. The sequence of the son caring for the parents was incredible; gritty and raw. So many questions raised: what IF you can't stand your own mother but you still have to live with her? What IF there is another and better dimension for your beleagured father? What do you do if you find your father has pooped his drawers? What if there is no nurse to bail you out? (The image of a middle aged man tranking out on pilched oxygen haunts me) Read this book and weep: this could be you and your life in a few years. Take what you have now and hug it tight. You will slowly but surely become your father. Wharton digs in and hands you the goods. No holds barred. I am a better though sadder person since I read his work.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful novel about family and America., January 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Dad: A Novel (Paperback)

In the novel Dad, an uncommon family deals with the common struggle of rediscovering itself. Much of the story focuses on a man's desperate and loving attempts to care for and rehabilitate his elderly and ailing father while also trying to redefine his own relationship with his college-age son. Though many of the characters are genuinely unique and eccentric and many of the escapades are fantastic, Wharton wonderfully depicts those aspects of family life that almost all will recognize. And beyond the family, Dad also is a stunning portrait of America as painted by an expatriate native son.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lesson in Fatherhood, January 26, 2008

By 

Ford Ka (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dad: A Novel (Paperback)

This is a perfect book about what it means to be a father and what it means to be a son. The novel presents three generations of men who meet in a tragic moment when their wife, mother and grandmother had a heart attack. The main hero Jack had run away from America to France to follow his dream of becoming a painter but a message from his native California brings him back, to tend to his father who is clueless when his wife was taken to hospital. The two men estranged for years clumsily and slowly learn to live together and discover love they never managed or (as most men do) bothered to express.
This is an extremely personal book. William Wharton claims he could not publish it before the death of his parents. He wrote it to express his own feelings after his father's death. When the book was ready he invited his mother over. They met daily on the beach and he read the novel to her. When he finished they were both crying. You will be crying too.