Customer Reviews

Fathermucker: A Novel

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Funny and a little heartbreaking, sexy and more than a little subversive, insightful and allusive--not adjectives you'd necessarily think would describe a novel about 24 hours in the life of a harried stay-at-home dad. At least not based on my own occasional stay at home experience(s). But in Fathermucker, Greg Olear manages to squeeze all that and more into a single day, making even the most banal aspects of child-rearing (and, let's be honest, there's a lot of them) pretty damn entertaining. This is a book about parenting, about marriage, about gender dynamics, about pop culture--about what it means to be a good father, and a good husband.

Do we need any more of these types of books? I wouldn't have thought so, but the answer appears to be an emphatic yes.

The obvious antecedent is Little Children--as pointed out in the PW review, although they spell Tom Perrotta's name wrong--but aside from the surface element of having stay-at-home dads as central characters, the two books have little in common. Perrotta's main concern seemed to be telling an amusing but unabashedly ready-for-Meg Ryan story, while Olear is on the whole more ambitious, his subversion not just a product of afternoon adultery, but what treads deep (and frighteningly) in the water of the parental soul. By the end of the book, there's not much about Josh Lansky we don't know; his flaws are readily apparent. Olear channels Joyce more than he does Perrotta--although Fathermucker is way more fun-and much shorter-than Ulysses. At least I think it is, since I gave up on Ulysses halfway through and read Beyond The Valley of the Dolls instead.

At any rate, although there are elements of his debut novel, Totally Killer, that survive in this sophomore effort--the engaging first-person narrator, the rude obsession with pop culture, and the MacGuffin of a mystery--this is a different kind of work. It's a "Way We Live Now" sort of story that sharply elbows out a space in the queue to become the definitive stay-at-home dad novel.

Fathermucker takes place during one particularly tumultuous day in the life of Josh Lansky, aspiring screenwriter and stay at home dad to two pre-schoolers. Josh's interior monologue covers everything from ruminations on kids' tv to what's in the latest issue of US Weekly to hilarious pieces of an imagined screenplay depicting his wife's possible infidelity.

This book is a must read for parents of young children and frankly anyone who likes smart, funny, adult literature. The book achieves the difficult balance of being both wickedly satirical and compassionately humanist--the same sort of balance that guys like Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta go for. Fathermucker deserves as wide an audience as either of those authors. It's that compelling/entertaining/laugh-out-loud funny.

One additional note: I won't spoil it, but there's one tour de force section towards the end of the book that will change the way you read Dr. Seuss forever. I was reading Cat in the Hat to my daughter just days after finishing this book, and let's just say it was weird. Just preparing you.

What's in a day? Joyce answered with Ulysses: it is an epic. This is what happens to Josh Lansky in Fathermucker.

Screenwriter and freelance writer, he's working at home and is in charge of his two young children... and he is engulfed by the burden of caring for his lovely kids, but also by the agonizing question of whether or not his wife is cheating.

Located in New Platz, a suburban city on the East Coast, Greg Olear portrays the American family of the 21st century: fathers have become mothers, women are disoriented, and children are the little kings. In the vein of his previous novel, the brilliant Totally Killer, Greg Olear has sharpened his sense of satire and humor in a book destined to become cult, with passages of great sensitivity on Asperger Syndrome suffered by the son of John Lansky.

In all cases, I've been hooked!

This is not a book about golf. Or man type things like cigars and sports. Or ties.

This is about the day in the life of a SAHD - (stay-at-home-dad) who lives in the crunchy college

town of New Paltz, NY. Fear, MILFs, Asperger's Syndrome, pumpkin patches, poop, and what one Dad will

do to keep his family together. This is not Mr. Brady stepping into Mrs. Brady's shoes for a day.

This is Mr. Mom for the new millennium. Find out what it means to be a Fathermucker.

A wonderfully hilarious and heartfelt follow up to my favorite novel of 2009, Totally Killer, Greg Olear's Fathermucker follows one day in the life of newly inducted suburbanite Josh Lansky, a stay-at-home dad caught in the midst of New Paltz mommy gossip. The father of a son with Asperger's, Lansky's dedication to family and home finds his world turning upside down when his wife goes out of town on business and he is left to fend for his two children at home, while another mom in town lets go of some gossip, a potential affair his wife his having. Fathermucker is not only a social satire, a genre Olear can hold ground with the best of them, it's a magnificently crafted story about love tested, trust confronted, and the importance of family in a world where selfishness to one's lust can so easily be embraced. A fine novel for any readerly moms and dads out there, and simply for any fans of a good book. Buy it, and buy Totally Killer. Greg Olear is one good, fathermucking writer.

What a great read! Finally a truthful no holds barred look into fatherhood. I saw a lot of my self in this book and it made me realize that I'm not alone in the parenting struggle. All the character were so real and delightful. Mr. Olear transported me right back into my early years of parenting. Loved it!!!!

If you've read Greg Olear's first novel, Totally Killer (and if you haven't, you really should) you might be expecting a second helping of the biting satire that made that book such a wonderfully entertaining read. You won't find any of that here. The only action here is the kind you get when an autistic boy throws a fit at his sister, and his dad has to handle it. The plot is fairly simple: a stay-at-home dad endures a long Friday as the sole parent to his preschool kids while his breadwinner wife is away on business. Yes, one of the kids has a touch of mental illness, but that's simply one more flavor in the meal, not the centerpiece.

But it's this quiet focus that makes Fathermucker every bit the engrossing read it's predesser was. Where Totally Killer relied more on characters drawn from pop-culture archetypes (aproppriate, as it was a satire of them), Fathermucker focus on very real family dynamics, as the protagonist attempts to singlehandedly negotiate the sticky business of being a suburban parent, and the book is better for it. Olear is very good as portraying the (mis)adventures that can go into parenting a couple of kids - even when one DOESN'T have Asperger's.

While the book isn't the kind of satire that Totally Killer was, make no mistake: it is also funny as hell. Olear is a witty writer, and very, very good at nailing the conventions of pop culture and celebrity infatuation, which his narrator does as a means of coping with various trials and trevails. This makes the book a multi-layed, enjoyable read with broad appeal; everyone who has ever babysat a kid or cracked open a gossip magazine will find something to enjoy here.

Olear's balance of humor with the difficulties of modern life and parenthood makes Fathermucker a great read for a generation that's so technologically connected that it isn't uncommon for pictures of pee stick pregnancy tests to show up on Facebook statuses. The book's clever, wry prose unexpectedly transforms the humdrum rhthyms of young parenthood into an entertaining story (read: contemporary, edgy, not like your parents) that also captures the beauty of a father's love for his children. Funny, fast-paced read with a big (albeit sarcastic) heart that discusses the realities of parenting in the 21st century.

I have to admit that I stole an advanced reader copy of Fathermucker literally out of my friend's hands moments after he received it in the mail. The clever title grabbed my attention first, but then I flipped to page one and the witty language, fast pacing and the introduction of a huge plot conflict and a very complex main character had me rivited to the page. My friend had lost his chance to read Fathermucker first because I wasn't giving up the story that had just hooked me faster than most books I read, I wanted more.

Olear's writing is rich in detail, angst, wit and style. And the pacing of the story is such that you can't put the book down. Olear paints a picture of a stay at home dad coping with a special needs child while trying to figure out who he is and how he fits in the world now that he is a stay at home dad instead of the bread winner. The story is very timely, endearing and laugh out loud funny.

I'm adding a copy of Fathermucker to my own library and will enjoy a second read! I will be recommending this book to all my friends.

I have long been a fan of Greg Olear and so I couldn't wait to read 'Fathermucker.'

The anticipation was absolutely warranted as I read it all in one wonderfully entertaining sitting.

I laughed, I smiled, I teared up.

It's perfectly crafted and so easy to read. It's full of pearls and wonderful gems. I love this book and you will too.

Now, if only they would make it into a film.. it's got blockbuster written all over it....