FATHERHOOD

by Bill Cosby ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 1986

Sandwiched between an intro and afterword by a psychiatrist, Cosby gives us the family in a series of wry comic sketches. The trials and tribulations, despair and confusion, warmth and zaniness of domestic bliss as he portrays them will be of some comfort to harried parents, especially the befuddled American Dad. The little demons have caused many a puzzled Pop to ask why he did it? Why be a father? Cosby hits the sore points, doesn't miss a pubescent quirk, and admits to being a whirling dervish of inconsistency. In the act of discovering fatherhood, he is always amusing and surprisingly sensitive, one-liners or no. Despite his stance of a bemused and bedazzled spectator, or even victim of the developmental process, he is really quite a Pop--caring, flexible and 100% in love with his kids. Well, maybe not 100%, especially when they're noisy, hysterical, inept, bumbung, sloppy, irrational, greedy and never, ever satisfied. Then, like fathers since time immemorial, he throws in the towel and sneaks off for a nap, or cowardly, leaves it up to Mom. He is wise, but not too confident and he doesn't have all the answers. Raising children requires luck, lots of it. Hold them close when they're young and let them go is the way he encapsulates his philosophy. When once asked what he liked to do after work, he said, ""Go home and look at my wife and kids."" As wonderful as it all seems, he doesn't tell us about all the au pairs, maids, cooks, gardeners, et al. that were of some minor assistance in raising his five. Most families don't live so high on the hog. The change in fathering styles is deftly handled in the way he compares his father's approach to problems and his own. They are poles apart, but one feels that each in his way has done a good job. In life and as a father, there are clearly many ways to skin a cat. Cosby is alert to most of them--and hilarious company when trying to explain what he suspects is inexplicable--kids, parents and their topsy-turvy world. Given his TV visibility, sure to be a brisk seller. And it's just in time for Father's Day.

Pub Date: May 23, 1986

ISBN: 0425097722

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION