Customer Reviews

The Poo Bomb: True Tales of Parental Terror

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

 

 

I first read the Poo Bomb in installment's on Jeff's website, and when I saw it was to be a book I couldn't wait, not only for my own copy, but for various friends of mine who are also in the neightbood of fatherhood. And let me tell you, this is the funnies and truest account. Jeff's style is a bit like a no-holds-barred Dave Barry. Now, Jeff's sense of humor may come across as a little raw, but this had me and my wife laughing and laughing. We would read a month a few months before our own daughter reached that age, to see what "treats" were coming.

A must read for people thinking of having kids or already on the rollercoaster. Not because it's helpful for raising them, but becuase you'll split your sides laughing. And it does contain some useful advice, like "don't boil the baby".

Thumbs up from Blue.

I've been reading Jeff Vogel's writing for about 3 years now. I found his site in reference to one of his games published via Spider Software.

I can honestly say that Jeff Vogel is one of the most hilarious writers I've ever read; on the Internet, in print, whatever. Doesn't matter.

This book originally started (as the other reviews mention) as an ongoing journal about his daughter. After I stumbled across it in 2003 I came back every day to check the development of his little girl; not because I particularly cared about her, but because Jeff's journal was possibly the funniest thing I'd ever read. I have to admit that although I've read the entirety of the first year of Cordelia's development (and beyond, but I think the book is only the first year), I haven't actually read this book, so any changes are beyond my scope of reference.

The great thing about the journal was that Jeff was giving the only blunt, cynical, and honest account of being a father... well, ever. Anyone who's read this book will tell you that it's a horrifying, gruesome, soul-crushing account. But throughout the whole ordeal, Jeff makes it plainly clear that he loves his daughter, even if she is a dopey 10 pound sack of stupid.

This book is perfect for anyone with a cynical sense of humor who is petrified of being a father. It approaches the subject with just the right mix of logical, rational parental advice, affection, and humor. Jeff excels at all three.

I started reading this stuff when I was 17. I had the inklings of wanting to be a father then. This book made me want to be a father even more. Now, reading through Jeff's work once again, I want to be a father more than ever. That's the important point. Jeff can talk about poo bombs all he wants, but in the end, it makes you want to be a father, and that's what any good parenting book should do.

When my daughter was ~3 weeks old I was searching on google for something, I think it was using pacifiers or something. It was a serious search. I needed real information. What I found was was Jeff Vogel's journal of his time with his little girl. Only snippets mind you, as the book was in production at this point. Although it was not what I was looking for, it provided what I*really* needed more than anything else at that time - tears-down-my-face laughter that continued until it burned. My husband also benefited from this therapeutic read.

Needless to say, we waited with baited breath for the book. We hounded Amazon when it did not arrive quickly (we never hound amazon. . . what happened to us?). It was like a drug. We needed a fix! I walked around quoting Jeff. I wrote "some people think babies are nice, chuckle" on my girlfriend's newborn diapers so that she finds them when she is changing the 100 millionth diaper that day.

The book delivers (more bad puns, kill me now). Fabulous hilarity, real information on life with baby that no one else has had the balls to tell you, irreverent opinions, no apologies.

Forgive Jeff the sometimes repetitive and conflicting nature of his narrative. Don't forget this book's origin was as a journal by a sleep-deprived, horrified, humorous, loving daddy.

If you are easily offended and are wondering if this book is for you, why are you reading reviews for a book called, "The Poo Bomb?"

I read much of the content in this book when it was on his website, but I had not visited since before our own child was born. When I saw it faced out at Barnes and Noble, I had to buy it.

Memory did not serve me wrong. He has a wonderful grasp of parenthood, and a biting wit that is much easier to take than the saccharine sweetness of most parenting books. Further, while he clearly loves little Cordelia, he is under no illusions about the first year of parenthood, and this comes across. A bit of humor makes that first year much easier to bear, and if it is humor about the process, so much the better.

Scott

This is the funniest book about parenting I've ever seen, and the advice in it is surprisingly good. I really wish I'd had this book around while raising my baby. It is really good at calming you down and helping you ignore all the garbage people tell you about how things are supposed to be when raising a baby.

Without question the funniest book on the shock of being new parents I've ever seen! Though our kids are past the stage described in the book, my husband and I have been reading passages of it to each other and laughing hysterically (to the point of tears) at the aptness of the author's descriptions. Very good writing, and pointed observations. You might especially appreciate the author's skewering of the "help" books for new parents. I wish I'd had this book when my first was born. I needed the laugh.

Don't read this book in the same room as your sleeping child - you'll probably wake her up with your laughing. I visited Jeff's website each week of his daughter's first year to find out how he and Cordelia were doing, and I was never once disappointed. Jeff is a talented writer, and (better yet) he pulls no punches in telling you what new fatherhood is like.

If you've ever read a parenting book you thought was unrealistically bubbly and optimistic, buy this one. It has no such flaw.

I'm still convinced that this book is going to get Jeff Vogel hauled off by an angry mob at some point. He's biting, mean, and spares no-one. Do not read this book if you are easily offended. (Actually, you don't even have to be terribly touchy to find something in this book to offend you. Jeff works pretty hard at covering all the bases.)

No, actually, skip that. Read this book anyway. It's just too good to miss. The bits that offend? Grit your teeth. Cope. Remember he's a humorist. It's well worth it. I had to keep stopping as I read, I couldn't breathe, I was laughing so hard.

When you're tired of the syrupy niceness of your library of baby manuals, pick this one up. It will make you feel human again, remind you that it's okay to be tired and cranky and wondering what is WRONG with the people around you. Real people have good AND bad emotions, and Vogel will tell you more about those surrounding his parenthood experience than you may want to know.

And you'll laugh yourself sick. It's brilliant stuff.

Although this book will not help you with any of the practical matters of the first year of your child's life, it does help with the most important thing of all: keeping your sanity when you have a newborn in the house, and letting you know you are not alone.

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. I laughed until I cried, many many times. Then I loaned it to my sister, and she thought it was so funny that she would call me just to read her favorite bits to me over the phone, and we'd both laugh hysterically.

Vogel just has a gift for picking out the things that everyone thinks or wishes during the first year of their child's life, and putting them on the page with such wry wit that you gasp and laugh at the same time.

I have re-read this book several time (my daughter is now 10 months old), and I still laugh hysterically. You know it's good when it's still funny the third time you read it!

Simply the funniest, most honest book about raising an infant ever written. Jeff Vogel is a genius. No other book has both reassured me that I can handle this and made me question my own sanity. Even if you have no children and plan on never having them you should read this book.