Hipster Dad

From today's Urbanbaby.com column

Your collection of parenting books has some gaps in it. You've got the standard advice on What to Expect, the overly ambitious how-tos (Potty train at 6 months! Make your own organic baby food!), and plenty of snarky commentary by smart moms like yourself. But alas, no dads (Dr. Sears doesn't count). Once the job as labor coach is over, fathers seem to drop right out of all the literature. Time to get some more input from this mysterious species known as the modern pop.

In his new memoir, Alternadad, self-styled writer, pop-culture obsessive and unwavering hipster Neal Pollack chronicles the experience of becoming a father while trying hard not to have to grow up too much himself. With his signature wit and candor, Pollack describes his unique approach to parenting (bringing the kid to music festivals, Johnny Cash posters above the crib, the Sex Pistols instead of the Wiggles) and reveals the ways in which having children forces us to change in spite of ourselves. He's honest and skeptical and more than a little irreverent, but the memoir might also be considered a love letter to his little boy.

Alternadad offers a peek into the world of the modern family, where anything-but-typical parents are raising kids differently than their own parents, but with all the love and responsibility (and sense of humor) that the job requires.

Because after all, Mom's not in this alone.

Available online at amazon.com.

SBH