[REVIEW] Dad is Fat (Jim Gaffigan)

I was first introduced to Jim Gaffigan a few months ago via YouTube. He did a comedy skit that involved home birth that went viral in the “crunchy” world. His bit was hilarious! The truths were obvious yet still presented in a hysterical way.

When I learned that he had written a book, I immediately wanted to read it solely based on what I had seen from his on-stage performance. Besides, the title of the book is Dad is Fat. I knew I was in for a treat.  

This book did not disappoint. SO funny! As the father of five, this guy has comedic material at the touch of his fingertips on a daily basis. He has taken the spoken and unspoken quirks of parenting and put them into quick and easy-to-read chapters. I imagine he did this because parents of lots of kids rarely have time to read books. Whenever they do, interruptions are imminent. The 2-3 page chapters are manageable snippets and may just give you the comedic relief you need to make it through the rest of the day. Especially if you have pre-school aged munchkins. I personally think there should be a boarding school for age 3-5. It was pretty rough around here during that time. 

It’s hard to say what my favorite part was. Each chapter discusses something so unique to parenting that you can relate to every single word. You will also laugh out loud more than once because you will have been there, done that. I’m a mother of an only but even I appreciated the humor he used to describe the everyday debacles of parenting.

His tales cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of this child-rearing gig. He paints himself as a terrible parent but, honestly, he’s as terribly average as the rest of us. That in itself may be why I enjoyed the book so much. For once, I read a parenting book that didn’t make me feel more lame and defeated as a mother. Finally, someone out there is talking about the struggles and challenges of growing little people with candor and a much needed comedic twist.

If you’ve had some rough days in parenting lately, you will want to pick this up. If you need to know that somebody else out there feels your pain, look no further than Dad is Fat.

Be warned. This sucker is spew-your-drink funny.