Alan Kercinik has been a Chicagoan his whole life and a dad since 2009. He finds it easy to relate to his two boys, since he still likes most things from his childhood. All opinions here are his own, to the relief of his wife, employer, family and majority of his friends.
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I picked up the book Alternadad by Neal Pollack the weekend before we had Jack. I thought I’d have some time to read in the hospital. That’s what everyone kept saying. “Take a book. You’ll have plenty of time.”
As it turns out, everyone was dead wrong. Jack is now six weeks old. I just finished the thing.
It’s not a calculus textbook. Pretty breezy, actually, the memoir of a man-child growing up. Think of it as a 300-plus page Seth Rogen movie, with a grumpier, grouchier, faster-to-anger narrator. (This is a compliment. There are definite LOL moments, including Pollack’s disasterous yet determined attempt to captain his first family dinner.)
My wife, she did all this reading during her pregnancy. I did some, too, but reading about all these physical and hormonal changes. They’re kind of hard to relate to, as a man.
So, I thought I’d read this. A bit of mental preparation. (“Look, honey. I’m interested!”) There isn’t a lot out there, about how guys feel about becoming dads. Maybe it’s because everyone says men don’t buy books anymore. (Which is just great, because it means the potential audience for my sure-to-be-best-seller is already cut in half.) Or we don’t talk about that kind of stuff. I dunno.
The thing was, I found this book at my comic book store. And the reason that I picked it up was because I recognized the cover art, drawn by one Peter Bagge, another grump who created this hilarious comic book called Hate that I’ve convulsed over.
So basically, all the wisdom I’m planning to impart to my kids will be gleaned from the racks at Chicago Comics. Hopefully, I can keep Jack from getting bitten by an irradiated spider.
6 comments
carolynw says:
May 3, 2009 at 7:12 pm (UTC -5 )
Congrats – hopes this helps you fulfill your dreams and inspire little Jack!
carolynw says:
May 3, 2009 at 2:12 pm (UTC -5 )
Congrats – hopes this helps you fulfill your dreams and inspire little Jack!
SH Reads says:
May 4, 2009 at 11:04 pm (UTC -5 )
I look forward to many great reading e-discussions. Enjoyed the post.
SH Reads says:
May 4, 2009 at 6:04 pm (UTC -5 )
I look forward to many great reading e-discussions. Enjoyed the post.
susan says:
May 5, 2009 at 2:19 am (UTC -5 )
I guess I am not familiar with blogs (to old) I was looking for pictures of Jack!!
susan says:
May 4, 2009 at 9:19 pm (UTC -5 )
I guess I am not familiar with blogs (to old) I was looking for pictures of Jack!!