FATHER FEELINGS

Vignettes of family life from a (middling) writer who appears to be an excellent father and an equally good husband. Two out of three's not bad. He's democratic--the family decides where to take vacations by consensus. He's kind--his elder daughter looked fat. He forced her to jog. She hated him for it. He decided a fat daughter was preferable to a hostile one, and quit making her run. She lost the weight by herself. He's reasonable--his little boy turned white with fear after a roller-coaster ride. He told the kid it was o.k. to cry. This is like looking at somebody else's family snapshots: it might have been tolerable had the photographer been better. Ralph Schoenstein (Yes, My Darling Daughters) is still the undisputed king of this genre.