Customer Reviews

So You're Going To Be a Dad

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

This is NOT a "guide," as the back cover suggests. It's an English teacher's attempt at comedy writing...cornball comedy. As in, If you love the TV show "Yes, Dear," this might be for you. The basic message is that dealing with a pregnant wife sucks, raising a baby sucks, but fatherhood has some nice benefits. Thanks, Dr. Spock. Consider this passage from the end of the book: "And now that you've almost finished this tome, I'll let you in on a little secret...Nothing can really prepare you for being a father. I hope you're not disappointed, but I had to put this earth-shattering statement at the end of the last chapter, otherwise you might not have read the book." I wish I'd read this page first, so I could have missed out on some of the half-truths and misinformation the author buries between half-assed jokes.

This book has to be one of the lamest books I have ever read. There is very little useful information and every page contains dumb joke after dumb joke. The best advice I can give is to stay clear of this one.

If you're one of those Dads-to-be sitting on the edge of your seat, chewing your fingers to the bone thinking "oh no, my life is over now", then this book is for you, because it will definitely help to reinforce those thoughts. Personally, I'm over the moon that I'm going to be a Dad and can't wait for the big day. Hence why after reading a few chapters of this book I couldn't understand why I suddenly felt disturbed about the prospect. I found that throwing the book across the room fixed that though (much to my wife's amusement) and the book is now sitting on the shelf at my local 2nd hand book store....

If you are looking for a negative, sarcastic approach to fatherhood, this is the perfect book for you. The book opens by telling the reader that fatherhood wrecks your life. Very negative, not helpful at all.

So You're Going to Be a Dad provides absolutely no added value and its "humor" is weak at best. Even when Downey tells his exaggerated "true" stories, they aren't funny. You can learn more, and hear funnier stories, by speaking to a friend or relative with a newborn in less than 30 minutes. This book is a complete waste of time and money.

I'm not sure where these positive reviews are coming from- I assume they are by Mr. Downey's family. I have never been motivated by a book before enough to write a review online, but this book is so truly, truly awful that I feel the need to warn others. My wife is 7 months pregnant- she bought this for me to get me reading about the baby. I have stopped reading it halfway through, and am now begging for the chance to read ANY OTHER BOOK she owns. It is advertised as humorous, but I promise you that it is certainly not.

A mate gave me Peter Downey's book after my wife and I found out we were pregnant, we were in a restaurant and (much to the consternation of those around the table) I started reading a bit of it. Talk about laugh! For the next few minutes I kept interrupting the conversation by reading a few lines from the book. Mercifully, all the other people found Downey's humor pleasing.

As I got into the rest of the book, I found that as a bloke who knew virtually nothing about babies I understood what was going on. The book is written for the average bloke, who has a fairly dry sense of humor. It does not put off prospective fathers with a whole lot of technical jargon that no-one outside the medical field understands. It just tells it like it is. And yes, Peter Downey - those nappies that start when the teeth break through the gums are quite simply, unbelievable.

If you are going to be a dad, but are a bit nervous about what lies ahead, get this book and read it. When you've finished, you'll know a little more than you did when you started, although in reality, nothing prepares you for what you are about to see (provided you are conscious for the birth), or experience as your baby becomes an infant; your infant a toddler and so on. And on the way, you'll have a dammned good laugh, even moreso when you read it again when your baby is three and you are reminded of all those wonderful (smelly, putrid, nay, rancid) things you have seen and done in the last few years.

I would recommend this book to anyone out there who wants to read of a typical bloke's experience of impending fatherhood - and who doesn't mind a good laugh along the way.

I found this book neither helpful nor humorous. It crams three pages of useful information into 190+ pages. The humor is childish and the advice is useless. It reminds me of a bad teen exploitation movie or a poorly written National Lampoon piece.
At least, I didn't buy it, but got it as a gift. Unfortunately, my wife was the one who gave it to me, so there goes money that could have been better spent on diapers or something useful.

I read the first couple chapters of this book because my wife gave it to me. (I guess the cutesy title and nice cover caught her eye.) I felt bad, but I had to tell her the reason I stopped reading was because the book is useless. The author seems like he spent very little time writing this. The stories are unrealistic and he still can't make them entertaining. You wonder what publisher actually allowed this to go to print. Hopefully, you're reading this before you spend the money and aren't just another sucker like my wife was. No offense sweetie :)

I will never get that hour of my life back!!! I should have put the book down after the first few pages of mindless drivel, but felt like my wife would be insulted. If you hear anyone you know is contemplating purchasing this book or taking time to read it, stop them immediately. Not funny. Not helpful.