Dad Is Fat
Ratings54
Average rating3.8
It's been years – almost decades since I last read a book by a stand-up comedian. I used to love them – you get their act, usually expanded – if not, at least more of it then you got to see on TV in Idaho. If you were familiar enough with the comedian, it was almost automatic to hear their voice in your head as you read. Always liked them, just ran out of time/money.
But I've been feeling the pull towards Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat for awhile now, so when Blogging for Books offered me a copy, I jumped on it. Which was a good move on my part – this is a funny book.
Not a a surprise, I realize. Still, it is good to see that he can transfer his humor to the page (you can never be sure). A good deal of the material – but not all – is adapted from his stand-up, and that's funny enough. But the rest is just as good – if not better, because it's fresher and in a different medium, so he can do other kinds of humor. I laughed out loud more than a few times, and had to resist reading the entire thing to whoever happened to be near-by.
But frequently, Gaffigan sets the jokes aside to talk about being a parent, the choices that women and men make to do that – how so many don't understand why people do that. He defends the choices his faily made to have kids, to have as many as they have, and to have home births. He doesn't stop joking as he does this, but they do take a back seat to what he's talking about though (while serving as the proverbial spoonful of sugar to help). These points are where the book is the strongest, he doesn't attack those who disagree, rather he says this is what they've decided to do, let them follow their own convictions and stay out of their way. Which doesn't seem so much to ask, but we all know better. He takes a simple, commonsense approach to this stuff – he doesn't get too esoteric or philosophical, just a simple, pragmatic “this is what we did, and it works for us.” My esteem for he and his wife/writing partner increased after reading this book.
They're short essays, and I wouldn't recommended reading too many of them in one sitting – just a few at a time to keep it fresh and funny.
If anyone in the world actually remembered the book, I'd compare this to Paul Reiser's [b:Babyhood|232335|Babyhood|Paul Reiser|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385179797s/232335.jpg|2551993] but from a different angle. It has a similar mix of humor and sentiment on the same topic. Dad is Fat has a lot of laughs, some warming of the heart, and so many lines that I want to quote, I'd cross into copyright infringement if I tried. Give it a whirl, even if you don't have kids, you'll probably enjoy this.
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Note:I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. Which was generous and cool of them, but didn't impact what I said about the book.
Hilarious! No kids? You may not fully appreciate all of the humor, but there's enough there to keep you laughing at the rest of us.
This is a relatively lighthearted memoir-type book narrated by the author (comedian). It is not as fast paced or styled quite like the stand up specials, but some of the same stories are included. I enjoyed this slightly deeper dive.
Very easy read and made me chuckle out loud on multiple occasions. The only other book I've ever read by a comedian is SeinLanguage by Jerry Seinfeld, which was mostly just a collection of thoughts he's had that I could see would eventually become his standup and TV show. This book is a little different as it reads a bit like an autobiography but it's mostly Jim's observations on being a dad, and in specific on being a dad in NYC. I'm not even a parent, but this book made me want to run out and buy copies for all the parents I know.
I chuckled and laughed out loud so much when listening to this book. I haven't read or listened to a ton of comedy books in my 2017 reading challenge so I loved the jokes & laughs.
I really enjoyed this book. Being a parent of three children living in an apartment I related well to many of Jim's stories, some of which were hilarious. I would recommend this to any parent, especially those with more than one child.
This is a great god for when you just need to laugh and escape from a long hard day.
The perfect book for any overwhelmed parent. I'm thinking this book needs to be my new baby shower gift, so that when there's a newborn in the house, the parents can take a few seconds to laugh and take a deep breath and realize that they are not alone in their experiences as a parent. Sometimes, just to lighten up and laugh at this crazy thing we all subject ourselves to called parenting, can help a tired parent make it through another day.
After reading the 1st three pages, I'm pretty sure I laughed about 50 times. I love Jim's honesty as well as his sense of humor. He's one of my favorite comedians. It was nice to peek into his life as a parent, and see what is going on ‘off-stage'. My husband is a family entertainer, and I can appreciate the behind the scenes craziness. :)
Very enjoyable read. Please read if you are a parent, then share with other parents. We seriously all need to stick together, laugh a little, and relax, so hopefully we can make it through without completely losing our sanity. :)
Read like a collection of his stand-up, and that's just fine. Reminiscent of the Dave Barry books I read when I was younger, and sometimes that's what I want.
This audio book was so much fun. Gaffigan sets you up with the expectation that this will be a simple autobiography with loads of humor. The best part is, that's what you get. More importantly, he helps you see that you're probably not the only person feeling the same way about things. His delivery is delightful, the stories were endearing, and he reads the whole thing to you; always an enormous bonus.
Short Review: Gaffigan is funny. My kind of funny. Simple stories about his life and how hard it is. He loves his kids, wife, life and his laziness. I can relate to all of it. The only thing that keeps me from rating it higher is that if you have seen Gaffigan live or on his tv specials you probably have heard about 20-25 percent of the book already. If you don't know Gaffigan, then it is probably a 4 star book. If you are a fan, then then this is probably a 3 star book.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/dad-is-fat-by-jim-gaffigan/
