Tim Dowling’s candid and highly humorous weekly Guardian column charts his life with his wife and three sons… unless they are cross with his exposés when they become ‘Sean his life partner and their three adopted research chimps’. Cherry picking entries from his column Dad, You Suck takes a Dowling family view at modern fatherhood and gives a wonderfully refreshing slap in the face to all the uber perfect, hyper positive parenting so prevalent in the media. As well as giving you lots of giggles, a fair few belly laughs and the odd (don’t be drinking water on public transport when reading) snorts it makes you realise you are not alone! Any parent, especially the father, will instantly relate to so many of Tim’s musing on life and hopefully the luxury of time has turned the cringe into a wry smile.
Written with self-excoriating candour and the driest humour, comes a book about being a dad from one of our best loved journalists. For Tim Dowling, fatherhood has sometimes felt like two decades of lessons learned through failure. 1. Don’t give your children sugary drinks and expect them to be as sweet. You could end up with a chopstick in your earhole. 2. There is no reason holidays should be thought of as relaxing. Consider them an opportunity to be shrieked at in different climates. 3. ‘Let’s not tell mum about this’ is not legally binding. It never has been. You’re only trying to make yourself feel better. Drawing on what actually feels like two lifetimes of experience, Dad You Suck is a hilarious account of the joy of fatherhood, and the subtle art of transforming your children’s insults into a reason for being.
