Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood

( 40 )

Overview

A book that explores the difference between the idea of fatherhood and a man’s actual experience of it.

When he became a father, Michael Lewis found himself expected to feel things that he didn’t feel, and to do things that he couldn’t see the point of doing. At first this made him feel guilty, until he realized that all around him fathers were pretending to do one thing, to feel one way, when in fact they felt and did all sorts of things, then...

See more details below
Hardcover
$16.16
BN.com price
(Save 32%)$23.95 List Price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (96) from $1.99   
  • New (12) from $1.99   
  • Used (84) from $1.99   
Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$10.18
BN.com price
(Save 27%)$13.95 List Price
Marketplace
BN.com

All Available Formats & Editions

More About This Book

Overview

A book that explores the difference between the idea of fatherhood and a man’s actual experience of it.

When he became a father, Michael Lewis found himself expected to feel things that he didn’t feel, and to do things that he couldn’t see the point of doing. At first this made him feel guilty, until he realized that all around him fathers were pretending to do one thing, to feel one way, when in fact they felt and did all sorts of things, then engaged in what amounted to an extended cover-up.

Lewis decided to keep a written record of what actually happened immediately after the birth of each of his three children. This book is that record. But it is also something else: maybe the funniest, most unsparing account of ordinary daily household life ever recorded from the point of view of the man inside. The remarkable thing about this story isn’t that Lewis is so unusual. It’s that he is so typical. The only wonder is that his wife has allowed him to publish it.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

The Onion A.V. Club
Home Game, which was adapted from a series of Slate essays and is an accordingly zippy read, is hilarious but painfully candid,
one man’s uneasy reckoning with the potentially devastating consequences of parenting. It’s unsparing, but Lewis is as honest with himself as he’s been with his subjects. Grade: A-.
The Los Angeles Times
Lewis's style is funny, frank, and engaging, and he gets a lot of comic mileage telling tales at his own expense....it's refreshing to hear a dad describe so vividly the uglier aspects of the job.— Christopher Noxon
The New York Times Book Review
Lewis writes memorable, insightful, yet simple and brisk sentences as easily as the rest of us breathe.— Marc Tracy
BookPage
Unabashedly frank, hilarious and sweetly sentimental....a somewhat daring and in many ways groundbreaking book about what it’s like to be a father in modern America....intensely honest.— Amy Scribner
Slate
Lewis is an insouciant raconteur who can spin out even standard dad stories (about, say, sending a kid to school dressed outlandishly) without making them sound stale.— Ann Hulbert
People Magazine
He captures serious issues with a warmth that shows he's a pretty good dad after all.— Kyle Smith
Janet Maslin
Like Christopher Buckley writing, at the other end of the life cycle, about his parents' deaths in Losing Mum and Pup, Mr. Lewis buffers any discomfort with urbane polish and storytelling skill. Both books manage to be bright and blithe while describing some of the most earthshaking events in their authors' lives.
—The New York Times
Amy Joyce
From the first laugh-out-loud anecdote about his toddler daughter fending off bully boys with words that make Lewis blush and beam, to his wife's nightmarish postpartum depression, he illustrates the life of a modern-day dad who is, yes, much more hands-on than his father, but who still tries to justify not spending time with his second infant after birth…it's similar to Anne Lamott's wonderful Operating Instructions. It's hard to believe anything could compare to her painfully and wonderfully honest book about the first year of her son's life. But here it is. And in a dad's voice, no less. How so not our father's generation.
—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly

After the birth of his first child, bestselling writer Lewis (Moneyball) felt he was a stranger in a strange land, puzzled at the gap between what he thought he should be feeling and what he actually felt. While he expected to be overcome by joy, he often felt puzzled; expecting to feel worried over a child's illness or behavior, he often felt indifferent. Lewis attempts to capture the triumphs, failures, humor, frustration and exhilaration of being a new father during the first year of each of his three children's lives. In one especially hilarious moment, Lewis is in a hotel pool in Bermuda distantly observing his children. When some older boys start teasing his oldest daughter, the youngest daughter, three years old at the time, lets fly a string of profanities at the top of her lungs. The boys retreat and then regroup for a second attack; when they return, she lets fly another string and tells them that she has peed in the pool, causing the boys to go away. All the while, Lewis watches from afar, too embarrassed to claim this youngster as his own but also proud that she has handled herself so smartly. Although Lewis is correct that his fatherhood moments might be more interesting to him than to anyone else, his reflections capture both the unease and the excitement that fatherhood brings. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Library Journal
While other authors of parenting memoirs have shown that fathers are vital and needed, Lewis (The Blind Side) here takes pains to celebrate his ineptitude and lack of involvement as a father. Listeners promised an analysis of "the persistent and disturbing gap" between what Lewis was expected to feel and what he actually felt are instead subjected to boring, cranky anecdotes common to new fatherhood. The narration by Dan John Miller (Generation Text) is fine, if a bit bland. Not even those who appreciated Neal Pollack's Alternadad are likely to enjoy this; instead, try Bruce Stockler's I Sleep at Red Lights. [The Norton hc, published in May, was a New York Times best seller.—Ed.]—Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Middletown
Kirkus Reviews
Lewis (The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, 2006, etc.) updates and expands his Slate series on the business of parenting. After the birth of each of his three children, the author promptly drew up notes on how he tried manfully to fill the demanding job of fatherhood. As wife and family CEO Tabitha provided guidance, the generally inattentive and distracted Lewis recorded the nuttiness of raising daughters Quinn and Dixie and their little brother Walker. It's an engaging journal that selectively details how Dad grew up as well, as caution replaced airy hope and emotion displaced rationality. The first child was, for a while, subjected to the vicissitudes of living in Paris and Gallic notions of childrearing; the French experience seems to have made her a cool analyst of any situation. Back stateside, a second girl was born and sibling rivalry erupted. In California, the couple's third child arrived, and Dad elucidates the effects of scant sleep, management of Mom's postpartum melancholy and infant Walker's frightening illness. "If you want to feel the way you're meant to feel about the new baby," writes Lewis, "you need to do the grunt work." Only with eternal vigilance can fathers insure the well-being and personal development of their progeny. Lewis also follows the trail explored by Dr. Cosby and others investigators of fatherhood, and he includes a riff on his personal surgery-no more children are expected in the Lewis household. Brief, clever and frank-a good gift for Father's Day. Author tour to New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Denver, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles Times
Funny, frank, and engaging. It’s refreshing to hear a dad describe so vividly the uglier aspects of the job.
People
His failings amuse . . . and he captures serious moments with a warmth that shows he’s a pretty good dad after all.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780393069013
  • Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 5/18/2009
  • Pages: 192
  • Sales rank: 325,477
  • Product dimensions: 5.70 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis grew up in New Orleans and has degrees from Princeton and the London School of Economics. Formerly a bond salesman with Salomon Brothers, he is the author of the runaway international bestseller, Liar's Poker. He holds an adjunct professorship at the University of California – Berkeley’s journalism school and lives in Berkeley with his wife, Tabitha Soren.

Biography

Twenty-four year-old Princeton graduate Michael Lewis had recently received his master's degree from the London School of Economics when Salomon Brothers hired him as a bond salesman in 1985. He moved to New York for training and witnessed firsthand the cutthroat, scruple-free culture that was Wall Street in the 1980s. Several months later, armed only with what he'd learned in training, Lewis returned to London and spent the next three years dispensing investment advice to Salomon's well-heeled clientele. He earned hundreds of thousands of dollars and survived a 1987 hostile takeover attempt at the firm. Nonetheless, he grew disillusioned with his job and left Salomon to write an account of his experiences in the industry. Published in 1989, Liar's Poker remains one of the best written and most perceptive chronicles of investment banking and the appalling excesses of an era.

Since then, Lewis has found great success as a financial journalist and bestselling author. His nonfiction ranges over a variety of topics, including U.S./Japanese business relations (Pacific Rift), the 1996 presidential campaign (Trail Fever), Silicon Valley (The New New Thing), and the Internet boom (Next: The Future Just Happened). He investigated the economics of professional sports in Moneyball (2003) and The Blind Side (2006); and, in 2008, he edited Panic, an anthology of essays about the major financial crises of 1990s and early "oughts."

Good To Know

Michael Lewis attended Isidore Newman School in his native New Orleans, LA -- a private college prep school that counts among its more distinguished alumni historian Walter Isaacson, children's book author Mo Willems, singer Harry Connick, Jr., and famous pro-football siblings Peyton and Eli Manning.
Read More Show Less
    1. Date of Birth:
      October 15, 1960
    2. Place of Birth:
      New Orleans, LA
    1. Education:
      Princeton University, B.A. in Art History, 1982; London School of Economics, 1985

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 40 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(14)

4 Star

(12)

3 Star

(4)

2 Star

(7)

1 Star

(3)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 40 Customer Reviews

  • Posted May 19, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Home Game Hits a Home Run

    HOME GAME:An Accidential Guide
    To Fatherhood
    Michael Lewis
    W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
    500 Fifth Avenue
    New York, NY 10110
    ISBN: 978-0-393-06901-3
    $23.95 - Hardback
    190 pages

    HOME GAME: An Accidential Guide to Fatherhood by Michael Lewis is an honest account of one father's experience with raising his children. While most fathers' would "think" what Lewis is saying, most of them would mute the actual words.

    This work is written in three parts, each part dedicated to one of Lewis's children. His account of the birthing process is hilarious. He states, "A woman in labor needs to believe, however much evidence she has to the contrary, that the man in waiting beside her bed is directing every ounce of his concern toward her. He learns to camouflage trips to the john as grape juice-fetching missions, When he is hungry he waits until his wife dozes off, then nips furtively down to the hospital vending machine for his supper of Ring Dings and Nacho Cheese Doritos." He continues to say that no one really cares how Dad is doing, nor, do they care about his fatigue, his worries, his tedium, his disappointment at the contents of the hospital vending machine - these are better unmentioned. Above all, he must know that if his mask of perfect selflessness slips for even a moment he will be nabbed.

    His account of his daughter's encounter with older boys who try to ruin her and her sister's day at the pool is so funny that I had to put the book down until I could get control of my laughter.

    What Lewis actually says is what we all have felt at some period in parenting our children. However, we are not brave enough to put our feelings in print. So, I am awed by Michael Lewis's ability to just put it all out there for his readers.

    Any new parent should read this book, male or female. It will help you to realize that there is no wrong way to parent, just do your best and the children usually become reasonable people.

    This would make a good gift for new parents, anyone wanting to read a light-hearted family book or a man who has been asked by his wife to have a vasectomy. Don't ask, just read the book.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 2, 2009

    Too funny for words!

    I admit i am a huge fan of michael lewis and a father of 4. therefore i am obviously the bullseye on the target for the book. that being said this is a fine book with fantastic images and his usual very insightful way of looking at things. i was literally gut-laughing at times. it is a quick read and worth it. i am already making a list of folks to whom i will send the book.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted May 27, 2009

    Terrible.

    What a piece of fluff.A great waste of a wonderful author's talents.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 15, 2013

    Just got it

    Its very funny !!!! Get of ur nuts!!!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 29, 2012

    Very funny, quick read

    Read this at the recommendation of a colleague in August, and ended up reading this on the beach and getting some looks from my family because i was laughing out loud so much. Great book for anyone who has been through this, or is about to.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 11, 2012

    Easy read, hilarious parenting experience!

    Not his typical subject matter, Home Game was light-hearted fun. I couldn't stop crying from laughter.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 6, 2011

    Underwhelming

    I'm a big Michael Lewis fan, but this was by far the least interesting of his works. Although definitely humorous at times, I thought it lacked the 'laugh out loud' stories promised by other reviews.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 8, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 17, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 25, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 9, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 30, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 27, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 15, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 22, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 13, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 14, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 29, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 17, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 17, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 40 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)