Home Game: An Accidental Guide... by Lewis, Michael

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Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood Hardcover – Illustrated, May 18, 2009

by Michael Lewis (Author)

4.4 929 ratings

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A book that explores the difference between the idea of fatherhood and a man’s actual experience of it.

When he became a father, Michael Lewis found himself expected to feel things that he didn’t feel, and to do things that he couldn’t see the point of doing. At first this made him feel guilty, until he realized that all around him fathers were pretending to do one thing, to feel one way, when in fact they felt and did all sorts of things, then engaged in what amounted to an extended cover-up.

Lewis decided to keep a written record of what actually happened immediately after the birth of each of his three children. This book is that record. But it is also something else: maybe the funniest, most unsparing account of ordinary daily household life ever recorded from the point of view of the man inside. The remarkable thing about this story isn’t that Lewis is so unusual. It’s that he is so typical. The only wonder is that his wife has allowed him to publish it. 3 photos

Length

192
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

2009
May 18
Dimensions

5.9 x 0.8 x 8.6
inches
ISBN-10

9780393069013
ISBN-13

978-0393069013
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After the birth of his first child, bestselling writer Lewis (Moneyball) felt he was a stranger in a strange land, puzzled at the gap between what he thought he should be feeling and what he actually felt. While he expected to be overcome by joy, he often felt puzzled; expecting to feel worried over a child's illness or behavior, he often felt indifferent. Lewis attempts to capture the triumphs, failures, humor, frustration and exhilaration of being a new father during the first year of each of his three children's lives. In one especially hilarious moment, Lewis is in a hotel pool in Bermuda distantly observing his children. When some older boys start teasing his oldest daughter, the youngest daughter, three years old at the time, lets fly a string of profanities at the top of her lungs. The boys retreat and then regroup for a second attack; when they return, she lets fly another string and tells them that she has peed in the pool, causing the boys to go away. All the while, Lewis watches from afar, too embarrassed to claim this youngster as his own but also proud that she has handled herself so smartly. Although Lewis is correct that his fatherhood moments might be more interesting to him than to anyone else, his reflections capture both the unease and the excitement that fatherhood brings. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Unabashedly frank, hilarious and sweetly sentimental....a somewhat daring and in many ways groundbreaking book about what it’s like to be a father in modern America....intensely honest."
― Amy Scribner, BookPage

"It’s an engaging journal that selectively details how Dad grew up as well....Brief, clever and frank―a good gift for Father’s Day."
― Kirkus Reviews

"He captures serious issues with a warmth that shows he's a pretty good dad after all."
― Kyle Smith, People Magazine

"His reflections capture both the unease and the excitement that fatherhood brings."
― Publishers Weekly

"Lewis is an insouciant raconteur who can spin out even standard dad stories (about, say, sending a kid to school dressed outlandishly) without making them sound stale."
― Ann Hulbert, Slate

"Lewis's style is funny, frank, and engaging, and he gets a lot of comic mileage telling tales at his own expense....it's refreshing to hear a dad describe so vividly the uglier aspects of the job."
― Christopher Noxon, The Los Angeles Times

"Lewis writes memorable, insightful, yet simple and brisk sentences as easily as the rest of us breathe."
― Marc Tracy, The New York Times Book Review

"Home Game, which was adapted from a series of Slate essays and is an accordingly zippy read, is hilarious but painfully candid, one man’s uneasy reckoning with the potentially devastating consequences of parenting. It’s unsparing, but Lewis is as honest with himself as he’s been with his subjects. Grade: A-."
― The Onion AV Club

About the Author

Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Amy Joyce Let's get this straight: Michael Lewis is not his father. So who is this father of three? He's still trying to figure that out. And lucky us, we get to go along for the journey. Like many other middle-aged men, Lewis, who writes about sports and finance, is a little stuck between roles. On one side is the generation of his father, who once told him, "I didn't even talk to you until you went away to college." On the other side is the new generation of dads, who will read this book as "a snapshot of what I assume will one day be looked back upon as a kind of Dark Age of Fatherhood," Lewis writes. "Obviously, we're in the midst of some long unhappy transition between the model of fatherhood as practiced by my father and some ideal model." The fact is, in this delightful book, Lewis doesn't fit that ideal model, but he's clearly a man who spends his days figuring out how to come close. From the first laugh-out-loud anecdote about his toddler daughter fending off bully boys with words that make Lewis blush and beam, to his wife's nightmarish postpartum depression, he illustrates the life of a modern-day dad who is, yes, much more hands-on than his father, but who still tries to justify not spending time with his second infant after birth. (Hey, he has a book to write, and it's not like she'll miss him at that blob age!) When each of Lewis's children was born, he kept a record of what actually happened -- wisely, since we all know something makes us block out much of that early time (probably so we'll reproduce again). "Home Game" is the result of those records. And in that sense, it's similar to Anne Lamott's wonderful "Operating Instructions." It's hard to believe anything could compare to her painfully and wonderfully honest book about the first year of her son's life. But here it is. And in a dad's voice, no less. How so not our father's generation. In "The Book of Dads" some of your favorite authors (Rick Bragg, Charles Baxter, Nick Flynn) describe how they raised their kids, thought about raising their kids and tried not to raise their kids the way their own fathers did. These involved and thoughtful dads share insights dark, deep, light and mesmerizing. In one lovely essay, Anthony Doerr points out the difference between raising twins in the United States vs. in Italy: "In the States, practically every time someone would stop us on the street or in the grocery store, they'd gesture at the stroller and say, 'Twins? Bet you have your hands full.' . . . To be reminded of something you can't forget is debilitating." "I prefer the Italian mothers," he writes, "who lean over the stroller and whisper, 'So beautiful.' . . . The old Roman who stopped us today outside the cemetery and grinned at Henry and Owen before shaking my hand and saying, with a half bow, 'Complimenti.' My compliments." Other essays are very funny, as when Neal Pollack's son broke a toy at a store and he told the cashier he wanted to give his son a lesson in morality. "I turned to the counter guy. 'How much do I owe you?' " 'Two bucks,' he said. " 'Oh, thank God,' I said. I hate it when doing the right thing costs more than five bucks." There's also a touching essay by Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transsexual with two sons who decided to call him Maddy. "That's like, half Mommy, and half Daddy," says Luke. "And anyhow, I know a girl at school named Maddy. She's pretty nice." In another piece, Brandon R. Schrand tells a triumphant tale of overcoming alcoholism and moving away from the dark shadow of a deceased ex-con father to become a loving dad. This entertaining and thoughtful collection will reassure fathers of all ages that they are, if nothing else, not alone.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 039306901X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (May 18, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780393069013
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393069013
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #234,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #314 in Parenting & Families Humor
- #338 in Fatherhood (Books)
- #5,994 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 929 ratings

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Michael Lewis

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Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of The Undoing Project, Liar's Poker, Flash Boys, Moneyball, The Blind Side, Home Game and The Big Short, among other works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their three children.

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4.4 out of 5

930 global ratings

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Hilarious introduction to fatherhood

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2023

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Side splitting laughter for my wife and I while getting exposed to what parenthood will be like. Highly recommend!

Fatherhood For Better and For Worse

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2010

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Described by Malcolm Gladwell as one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Michael Lewis, author of "The Blind Side" (yes, the same one as the movie), "Liar's Poker" and others writes of his daily experiences figuring out what it really means to be a dad in an age where parenting and gender roles have become blurred and confused. Lewis writes, "Obviously, we're in the midst of some long unhappy transition between the model of fatherhood as practiced by my father and some ideal model."

Like many dads, Lewis experienced a wide range of emotions after the birth of his first child, but what kept him awake at night was the glaring and seemingly shameful mismatch between what he thought he should be feeling towards his child and how he actually felt. This inner battle overshadowed other areas of his life and drove him to the pen. He explains,

"I began keeping a journal of my experience of fatherhood seven months after the birth of our first child. The reader will quickly see that I didn't set out to write about new fatherhood. I set out to write about Paris, but Paris was overshadowed by a seven-month-old baby. Most of what follows was written in the hazy, sleepless, and generally unpleasant first year after the birth of each of my three children."

One of the funniest books I've read in years, "Home Game" reveals the struggles and victories of Lewis the father, but more than just Lewis, it is a book of modern fathers everywhere. The tales contained in the book speak of intimacy, regret, love, awkwardness and the dirt that makes parenting crazy and beautiful.

3 people found this helpful

Perfect gift from my wife before our first step into parenthood

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

My wife purchased this book for me before our twins were born. As a first-time dad, I was both anxious and excited for our future. I perused some of the other books my wife had about what to expect, etc., and they were either too focused on simply keeping the child alive or full of cliches about how you would feel. Not to sound like a typical man, but so most of the books I read about babies and children made me want to gag.

This collection of essays by Michael Lewis. however, was perfect. I've enjoyed reading Lewis's other writing on financial topics and this collection struck the perfect tone of confronting many of the fears and emotions parents face without going overboard or resorting to the tired cliches. Lewis manages to convey the range of emotions and feelings that a modern dad confronts with truly hysterical stories of his experiences in raising his children. He pulls no punches on the frustration a dad feels at times, yet doesn't bury the life-changing effect of having children in your life.

Now that I've had over a year's experience being a father (no time at all, I know!), I re-read Lewis's book and was amazed at how perfectly he captured fatherhood. If you are a father-to-be, I couldn't recommend this book more if you are looking to ease into the water. This would also be the perfect present for your husband if he is the type that won't go for normal cheesy books about kids. Like Lewis's other excellent books, he has a gift for employing his sharp sense of humor and clear writing to convey a feeling and understanding to a subject that few writers are able to achieve. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all fathers and fathers-to-be.

19 people found this helpful

For Dad's only . . .

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

Michael Lewis is the famous author of Liar's Poker and Money Ball. A very good writer. In this book Home Game he takes a departure from writing about Wall Street and Money to write up his experiences as a Dad.

Worth a belly full of laughs. Unfortunately, if Moms read this - it will confirm your worst suspicions about Dads.

The first incident is worth repeating. He is in a swimming pool on vacation at a resort. He is in the adults pool and his two young daughters in the kids pool. A boy comes by and tries to bully them. Lewis' younger daughter yells foul obscenities at the boy in a very loud voice and chases him away. The rest of the parents around the pool are simplify horrified at this language. In a flash of inspiration Lewis' realizes no one knows he is their father. So in his words, he 'drops quietly like an alligator below the water' and swims away, but secretly proud that his daughter stood up for herself, but VERY relieved his wife was not around.

5 people found this helpful

Review from an expectant father

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2010

Verified Purchase

Most (if not all) of the reviews here are from fathers and/or mothers. And they all recommend this book. I am not a father yet but soon to be. We are expecting our first child in mid-September. Ultrasound showed we will have a boy! :) I found this book very fun to read. So much fun I want more! Michael Lewis is really a great storyteller. I get drawn into his world as a dad while reading this book.

The book is mainly broken into 3 parts. One for each of his kids. The stories are not step-by-step chronological accounts of his experiences but descriptions of his fatherhood moments. These "moments" are probably typical (I wouldn't know yet) in a family setting but the way he wrote them is just plain funny! More than half the time I find myself laughing out loud like I'm in a stand up comedy show.

This book is not really a guide to fatherhood or even lessons for fathers and fathers-to-be. He's not lecturing, not even giving pointers. This is an account of his experiences as a father; but as we all know we learn from experiences, some from our own some from others. As I said earlier, I am a first time expectant father and by no means I can say this book got me prepared for what is to come. But I do know this, now I have a little better idea of what it's going to be like.

By the way, I bought this book through Kindle and read it between my iPhone and the iPad. The texts were rendered cleanly and Whispersync was flawless. There were no pics or diagrams in this Kindle version of the book.

**Spoiler Alert: He talked about vasectomy in the book. I really did not like that (as you can probably understand with my situation). It was a pretty detailed account that I honestly skimmed and skipped over. Sorry, it's not for me right now and maybe ever.

7 people found this helpful

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Vince Daudli

J’adore l’auteur mais…

Reviewed in Canada on October 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

Je suis un fan de Michael Lewis et j’ai lu plusieurs de ses livres. De tout ses livres, celui-ci est celui que j’ai le moins aimé. Il y a quelques passages amusant mais ce n’est pas exactement comme ses autres livres. On sent qu’il y a eu moi s d’effort du côté de l’éditeur, ce livre est moins mature que les autres.

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Tomoki

Funny and so true

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2012

Verified Purchase

This is a quick and easy read, and well worth a look if you are a father yourself. It is not a tome describing the intricies of fatherhood and doesnt take on or explain serious issues. It is however, like all of his books, written in a well paced and accessible style - and taken simply on face value as a memoir of touching and amusing stories, it is a great book as so much of it rings true. He has put into words what I (and I'm sure many fathers) with young children have experienced (and sometimes can't admit) - for myself it was funny and touching to see that we are all having the same issues...

One person found this helpful

TWL

Easy read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

It's a quick read but if you're a tired new dad looking for a bit of relief (or someone to identify with) it will tick the boxes. I enjoyed it, though it reads more like a blog than a book with a thoughtful narrative.

One person found this helpful

Schrvder

A fun read an an honest look at fatherhood

Reviewed in Germany on September 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

That was fun - nice an easy deckchair / sofa literature with quite a few honest statements that make you think as well as smile!

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Worse than hoped

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Having deeply enjoyed several other Michael Lewis books, this one was much less good. I guess he's better with a more external 'hook'.
Very short, and mildly diverting, but honestly left me a little embarrassed for him.

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