Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood

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.

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.

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.

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.

Poor quality and hasn’t worn very well at all, definitely avoid this one

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.

A heartfelt series of stories from Mr.Lewis's reflections of being a father.

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...