Parents Behaving Badly

by Scott Gummer Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

Overview

Parents Behaving Badly is an uproarious, surprising, and poignant satire of American suburbia and youth sports gone wild. Everyone that has ever been involved with youth sports can relate. Kids, coaches, friends, family - everyone knows 'that guy' or 'that mom. The setting is Little League, but the experiences and issues are universal. Layered beneath the book's laugh out loud action are provocative questions about the what ifs of our adolescence, the lost art of personal interaction in the age of texting and Twitter and Facebook, what constitutes infidelity, and blurring the line between fair play and bad sports. Parents Behaving Badly is a good, fun read that will make you laugh, make you think, and make for conversation in bleachers and on sidelines everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In Gummer's humorous if subdued debut, a suburban Little League serves as the nexus for thwarted ambitions, competitive intrigues, marital rifts, and, as an afterthought, kids who might be interested in baseball. Ben Holden, recently returned to his California hometown from New York, becomes a reluctant coach, grappling with his late father's legacy as a revered high school athletic mentor and the ambivalence that comes with middle-aged parenting and a mature, mostly stable marriage. He's appealing and accessible, as are many of Gummer's cast of family members, friends and neighbors. There's the deftly rendered list of things Ben's sister prizes: "their McMansion in the tony, new and also curiously named CascadeForest development of Sacramento, her Lexus hybrid and his Prius, their Pottery Barn furnishings, her Tory Burch Shoes and matching handbags." But too often, these descriptions substitute for character development and depth, and while the slew of subplots—the most dramatic of which involves low-grade sexual tension between Ben and a sexy ultrasound technician—are entertaining, they can't mask the fact that the novel fails to really deliver on the promise of its title. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

"Appealing and accessible..." - Publishers Weekly

"...funny...[a] winning book..." - New York Journal of Books

"As much as it's a sharp-tongued takedown of win-at-all-costs culture, Parents Behaving Badly is also a teasing, but ultimately affectionate, story about a happy marriage grappling with the approach of middle age and the pressures of parenting kids who are getting older every day." - NPR

"[Gummer] excels in hilariously detailed descriptions of the sport and its participants. "Parents Behaving Badly" will leave you laughing..." - Washington Post

"Scott Gummer does a great job of reminding us why kids play sports, why parents coach and, with tongue in cheek, what happens when parents forget that sports are supposed to be fun. With a great deal of humor he never loses sight of the life lessons baseball teaches kids and parents alike. Parents Behaving Badly is a thoroughly entertaining story of a youth baseball season that should be a must read." - Cal Ripken, Jr., member, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Chairman and CEO Ripken Baseball

"Parents Behaving Badly isn't just a sharp satire about Little League madness; it's also a shrewd and sympathetic portrait of a mid-life marriage. Scott Gummer writes with equal insight about wayward spouses and conniving coaches." - Tom Perrotta

"Parents Behaving Badly is the perfect melding of the modern American bloodsports of Little League and wedlock: harrowing and warm-hearted." - Larry Doyle, author of I Love You, Beth Cooper and Go Mutants

 

AUGUST 2011 - AudioFile

Patrick Lawlor’s sardonic tone adds an entertaining dose of edginess to this delightful satire about the perils of parenting and youth sports. With writing that doesn’t flinch when talking about condoms, weed, and various forms of infidelity, his enthusiastic reading jumps into the fray without calling attention to his skills or performance. The novel, a fast-moving collection of wickedly funny vignettes, is oddly relaxing. Gummer understands parenting and the conflicts parents face as they simultaneously try to love their children, maintain the illusion of being world-class parents, and curb the irrepressible child within themselves who is never far from the surface. For anyone with children, it’s a hilarious, uplifting reminder that we are never more human than when we are parents. T.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175671972
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	04/12/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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