A sweet-hearted account of the author’s adventures, as well as a reasoned critique of institutional shortcomings.
For the sake of his son, duck-out-of-water New York Times writer Applebome (Dixie Rising, 1996) joins the Boy Scout ranks.
They were living in Atlanta when Ben decided he wanted to become a Tiger Scout. Applebome, a “committed indoorsman” who grew up during an era when the Scouts were hopelessly uncool, if not borderline fascists had misgivings, but he loved his kid, and his kid appeared to love Scouting. So when the family moved north to Chappaqua, New York, Applebome appreciated that joining the Boy Scouts would smooth the transition for Ben. He started to volunteer his time and soon came to respect the fundamental decency and sense of inclusion in the troop, the noncompetitive way it brought kids together. With light, dry wit, he recounts his fumbling attempts to canoe, camp, and hike in winter, while he takes the psychic measure of the boys and adults (“volunteers who do it for various benign, charitable, inscrutable, or suspect reasons”). Applebome is equally concerned with the vices, virtues, and vicissitudes of the Boy Scout organization, so he delves into the backgrounds and worldviews of Robert Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Daniel Carter Beard; the evolution of the Scout Handbook ethics; the usurpation of the organization by religious and conservative elements; and the recent rulings against gays and atheists. The rights of free association notwithstanding, Applebome finds those rulings counter to the spirit of the Scouts, another example of the disconnect between the national bureaucracy and local troops. In Chappaqua, Scouting is still all about campfires, self- sufficiency, fairness, tolerance, friends, good acts, and fun, with discrimination impossibly remote. “In the end what was admirable and worthy about Scouting seemed far more important than what was stupid and narrow about it,” writes Applebome, though he has a number of suggestions on how to reinvigorate the national organization.
A sweet-hearted account of the author’s adventures, as well as a reasoned critique of institutional shortcomings.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-100592-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after...
Self-help advice and personal reflections on avoiding spousal fights while raising children.
Before her daughter was born, bestselling author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, 2009, etc.) enjoyed steady work and a happy marriage. However, once she became a mother, there never seemed to be enough time, sleep, and especially help from her husband. Little irritations became monumental obstacles between them, which led to major battles. Consequently, they turned to expensive couples' therapy to help them regain some peace in life. In a combination of memoir and advice that can be found in most couples' therapy self-help books, Dunn provides an inside look at her own vexing issues and the solutions she and her husband used to prevent them from appearing in divorce court. They struggled with age-old battles fought between men and women—e.g., frequency of sex, who does more housework, who should get up with the child in the middle of the night, why women need to have a clean house, why men need more alone time, and many more. What Dunn learned via therapy, talks with other parents, and research was that there is no perfect solution to the many dynamics that surface once couples become parents. But by using time-tested techniques, she and her husband learned to listen, show empathy, and adjust so that their former status as a happy couple could safely and peacefully morph into a happy family. Readers familiar with Dunn's honest and humorous writing will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at her own semi-messy family life, and those who need guidance through the rough spots can glean advice while being entertained—all without spending lots of money on couples’ therapy.
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after the birth of their child.Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-26710-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.
Ruminations and reminiscences of an author—now in his 70s—about fatherhood, writing, and death.
O’Brien (July, July, 2002, etc.), who achieved considerable literary fame with both Going After Cacciato (1978) and The Things They Carried (1990), returns with an eclectic assembly of pieces that grow increasingly valedictory as the idea of mortality creeps in. (The title comes from the author’s uncertainty about his ability to assemble these pieces in a single volume.) He begins and ends with a letter: The initial one is to his first son (from 2003); the terminal one, to his two sons, both of whom are now teens (the present). Throughout the book, there are a number of recurring sections: “Home School” (lessons for his sons to accomplish), “The Magic Show” (about his long interest in magic), and “Pride” (about his feelings for his sons’ accomplishments). O’Brien also writes often about his own father. One literary figure emerges as almost a member of the family: Ernest Hemingway. The author loves Hemingway’s work (except when he doesn’t) and often gives his sons some of Papa’s most celebrated stories to read and think and write about. Near the end is a kind of stand-alone essay about Hemingway’s writings about war and death, which O’Brien realizes is Hemingway’s real subject. Other celebrated literary figures pop up in the text, including Elizabeth Bishop, Andrew Marvell, George Orwell, and Flannery O’Connor. Although O’Brien’s strong anti-war feelings are prominent throughout, his principal interest is fatherhood—specifically, at becoming a father later in his life and realizing that he will miss so much of his sons’ lives. He includes touching and amusing stories about his toddler sons, about the sadness he felt when his older son became a teen and began to distance himself, and about his anguish when his sons failed at something.
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-618-03970-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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