An insightful look at parenting for the old and young—and for those who want children or don’t.
A man faces the challenges, terror, and humor of fatherhood after the age of 50 in this debut memoir.
Nordstrom is a self-proclaimed “old-fart father.” At the dawn of his 50s, he welcomed his son, Christian, into the world in stammering horror as he watched the baby literally cut from his wife’s body during a cesarean section. Three years later, his daughter, Alexandra, joined the family during a long and stressful birth for his wife, Mary, that left him in the corner with an oxygen mask on. But even if age brings wisdom, the author’s life before the children arrived little prepared him for parenthood—from the flying food and the unexpected dangers of bath time to the constant stickiness and piles of poop everywhere. But in these trying and humorous moments came revelations about the loss of single friends, the ins and outs of stay-at-home parenting, and perhaps most starkly, how families mark time. (“If you really looked at the old photos, you saw the same expressions...at a two-year-old’s birthday party—boredom, and the I want to leave face.…Most of those in the photos...are already dead. Maybe that’s the reason to celebrate a baby’s birth every year. To celebrate those still alive and who will be dead before the child reaches puberty.”) Nordstrom’s memoir skillfully captures a man who feels perpetually out of his depth, a new father overwhelmed by the daily problems of dirty diapers and unanswerable questions, with his greatest defense a nearly endless reserve of dark humor and dad jokes. Narrated in the first person, the book places readers in the foxhole alongside the author for every office call about “Spit Day” and irritating “Are we there yet?” in a manner that will likely make those without kids jubilant while giving parents numerous examples of why the trials are all worthwhile. In addition, there are odd, unexpected, even poetic observations, from the buildup of granola bar wrappers in a vehicle’s back seat to the way a discarded diaper soaks up bacon grease.
An insightful look at parenting for the old and young—and for those who want children or don’t.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63393-956-1
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Koehler Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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