Written by GQ correspondent and Deadspin columnist Drew Magary, Someone Could Get Hurt offers a comical look at fatherhood from the perspective of someone not quite convinced on the entire idea of it. Through a series of essays, Magary highlights the good and bad of being a parent. From committing petty vandalism to bond with his daughter to watching helplessly as his son pees in a hotel pool, he says what most parents think but never admit.
Magary has a way of taking the mundane (like a trip to the grocery store) and turning it into something more likely to be heard during a stand-up comedy set than in a book about parenting.
The book is not all joking, however. Woven into the lighthearted craziness is Magary’s story of his third-born child – a boy born two months too early with a condition known as intestinal malrotation. Magary goes through a journey of fighting through tears in the NICU to finally understand why he wanted kids in the first place.
The essays, disjointed at first, start gaining focus during Magary’s account of his first and only DUI. The story demonstrates how parenting is its own coming-of-age tale, one for a generation that thought its chances to reinvent itself were long over.
His foibles in parenting demonstrate how children inspire anger, fear, jealousy and love in a dad all in the span of a day. Magary speaks of the pressure to raise his kids right, pressure that comes from his own parents and moms at Gymboree. More than that though, he emphasizes that the greatest pressure comes from within.
Equal parts clever and shocking, the book is relatable for any parent, mom or dad, who has ever felt like they were doing it all wrong. Anyone who has children will find themselves nodding along, saying “me too,” and anyone hoping for children will get a sneak peek into what they can really expect.
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