Punk Rock Dad

So, I really liked this book.

Punk Rock Dad was written in 2007 by Jim Lindberg, who was the lead singer of the band Pennywise. He's married with three young daughters and this is his story of how that all came to be. I was specifically looking to add more books for dads to my lending library because there are so few written. What I liked about this book was that it was really informative about all kinds of pregnancy, birth, and parenting stuff without being preachy, impractical, or giving advice. He doesn't write from the assumption that all dads-to-be are morons and completely inept at all things parenting, which is really rare in a dad's book.

He is a really good writer who makes quite a few situations just hilarious. Of course there's the usual exploding diapers and projectile vomiting stories, but he also incorporates his career as a musician into his daily life as a dad. Specifically, he addresses how he balances earning a living in a punk band singing songs like "F*** Authority" and then expecting or wanting his toddlers to obey his rules at home.

At the end of the book, he gets kind of deep about how much parenting changed his life (for the better) and gave him a whole new perspective. It's deep but it's not overboard. When I wikipedia'd him after finishing the book, I discovered that he had left Pennywise and started a new band just this past year. He talked about the struggles of being on tour while he knew his wife was with the three girls at home and how the glamour of being a semi-celebrity just wasn't enough for him after awhile, which probably had a lot to do with him leaving the band.

I really liked his writing style, his political views (extra liberal), and his respect for his family. He almost made parenting sound fun (!). I am definitely keeping this one in my lending library.