Having babies and experiencing the joys of parenthood can be a blessing or a curse, depending on whom you consult. The ordeal is especially trying for fathers- to- be and some are not so sure they like the idea once reality strikes them and they are right there, in the delivery room, watching their son or daughter squeeze through a small space they always assumed was reserved solely for them. In this book, The Dysfunctional Father's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies, two authors share their feelings on the baby scene with advice on how to avoid what you don't like and get more of what you do.

Basic Contents of This Book:

This 119- page paperback book is divided into nineteen short chapters contained within three main sections: One for pregnancy, one for birth, and one for babies. Starting with the section on pregnancy, the book presents the dysfunctional father's take on everything from the pregnancy announcement to attending childbirth classes to having sex when you spouse is big as a house.

In part two, the book talks about the actual act of birth and the dilemmas that immediately follow it. Included in this section is advice on circumcision, filming the birth of your baby, and the possible necissity of a vasectomy to make sure you never have to go through this again.

Once the birthing process is completed and the family is reunited at home, it's time to deal with facts of child- rearing, dysfunctional- father style. Ways to avoid changing diapers, the idiocy of cloth diapers, public breast feeding, and your baby's first birthday party are all covered in this section with the authors explaining how you can avoid all of the unpleasantries while waiting for your child to get old enough and your wife thin enough that you can resume a normal life.

Final Thoughts:

Babies can bring great joy to parents and most parents are very anxious when a bundle of joy is one the way, particularly if the baby is the first born. The memories, the life events, and even the many challenges that come with raising a child are all highly anticipated as the young parents await the moment when a new life is brought into the world.

But not every person is blissfully happy and for those fathers who wish they could skip the entire pregnancy and baby years and quickly fast- forward to the point when junoir can catch a football, authors X and Y bring you The Dysfunctional Father's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies. Politically incorrect and loaded with humor, this book is intended for the anti- father: The type who loves his new baby but would prefer to skip the work and continue to enjoy a life of blissful sex with the wife without the nasty chores like changing diapers, feeding, burping, etc.

The authors of this book are firm believers that the entire process from pregnancy through the toddler years is complete and total misery and they are quick to offer many words of advice to fathers who relate to their message. Want to avoid changing diapers? The book offers some quick and easy tricks that should help to get you out of this dreaded chore. Do you wish your wife would quickly drop those extra pregnancy pounds and return to the size six woman that you married? The book offers some advice on how to make this happen without sounding insensitive. These problems, and others like them, are explained and resolved in a few sentences.

The Dysfunctional Father's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies is a humor guide for fathers who can relate to this type of situation and it is certainly a book that will offend some who read it. I found it to be good- natured humor, but there are certainly those who will feel the authors are a tad crass and will not appreciate the insensitivity that they show toward women, babies, etc. Probably the most interesting aspect of the humor is that you can't really tell if the two authors are just joking around or if they really mean what they say. The fact that they don't include their real names (they refer to themselves as "X" and "Y") leads me to believe the latter; that they are being sincere and don't want to deal with the negative fallout that would inevitably occur if their wives and others knew that they are the ones who wrote this guide.

While the humor in this book is pretty fun, one thing I don't care for is the illustrations. They are contributed by David Shaw (he was brave enough to include his name) and what I don't like is that they are basically cartoon- like pencil drawings with added lines for shadowing and other effects. They are intended to keep the humor flowing and the laughs erupting, but they are only semi- successful. I can think of other illustrations that would have been better, although I am glad that the authors decided to include some illustrations. No illustrations at all would make the book seem empty and incomplete.

Overall, The Dysfunctional Father's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies is a pretty fun book about the (anti) joys of fatherhood and what you, the dysfunctional dad, can do to make the experience a little more tolerable. It is a little offensive, but the humor doesn't cross the line and most will find it at least a fairly pleasant diversion from the seriousness of everyday life and everyday parenthood.

Recommended: Yes