Description

A follow-up to the wildly successful What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, this “moving and deeply relatable” (Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country) collection of essays from sixteen notable writers breaks the silence on the complex-and sometimes contentious-relationships we have with our fathers.

What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About is a rare gem in the literary world. Both a viral sensation online and chosen by Oprah Daily as one of the best nonfiction books of the past two decades, it is an essential collection that dives into the topics we struggle to discuss with those who are meant to know and love us best.

“With tenderness and aplomb in equal measure” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), this captivating follow-up tackles the intricate and challenging relationships we have with our dads. Andrew Altschul reflects on the life-altering experience of becoming a father and how it reshaped his view of his own dad’s parenting. Isle McElroy revisits weekends spent tagging along as their father fixed up the homes of his wealthier colleagues. Jaquira Diaz delves into her father’s history in 1970s Williamsburg, uncovering the roots of their shared restlessness. Tomas Q. Morin paints a raw portrait of an absentee father, while Kelly McMasters portrays her father’s love and dedication. Maurice Carlos Ruffin insightfully captures a father who communicated through his integrity rather than words. Jiordan Castle reveals how we can love our fathers from a distance and Susan Muaddi Darraj’s “Baba Peels Apples for Me” explores the similar burdens placed on immigrant fathers and their eldest daughters.

With moments that are both humorous and deeply moving, “these fearless essays, each one unputdownable, are likely to reassure readers that whatever relationship they have or don’t have with their own fathers is just right” (Booklist).

Contributions by Michele Filgate, Andrew Altschul, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Dylan Landis, Jaquira Diaz, Kelly McMasters, Isle McElroy, Susan Muaddi Darraj, Tomas Q. Morin, Robin Reif, Heather Sellers, Jiordan Castle, Nayomi Munaweera, Joanna Rakoff, and Julie Buntin.

Publisher Review

“This stunning collection gathers so many kinds of fathers; fathers selling cars, cutting hair, peeling apples, salting slugs, wearing dresses, arriving too late, fathers who were violent in their primes, cowed by end of life. I noted a few showing up to games under complicated circumstances, two who’d given up painting, and one surprising daddy. These essays are hilarious, comforting, confounding and devastating. If fathers point out the world to their kids, this book of kids points back in remarkable, beautiful ways.”
-Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland

“In her poignant contribution to this collection, Susan Muaddi Darraj writes: “I get to see the layers of my father, all his various modes.” The entirety of What My Father And I Don’t Talk About gave me a similar sensation. The moving, varied essays assembled here showed me fathers in all their complexity and scope-sometimes loving, sometimes withholding, assertively present and achingly distant. This brilliant book is a vital addition to the literature of fathers and their children, and to our understanding of the tender and fraught relationships between them.”
-Rosie Schaap, author of The Slow Road North

“Moving and deeply relatable, this collection explores the many faces of fathers, from the loving and the humorous to the absent and the terrifying. Each essay invites us into a different world and a different childhood, yet finds unexpected throughlines of tenderness and vulnerability. What My Father and I Don’t Talk About will have readers seeing in powerful new light the relationship that has shaped their lives and sense of self.”
-Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country

“With tenderness and aplomb in equal measure, these essays plumb the depths of paternal relations.”
-Kirkus, starred review

“Novelists, poets, and essayists reflect on their relationships with their fathers…there’s no denying their poignancy and power. Readers will want to keep tissues handy.”
-Publishers Weekly

“Spellbinding…These fearless essays, each one unputdownable, are likely to reassure readers that whatever relationship they have or don’t have with their own fathers is just right.”
-Booklist

“The men might be aging, absent, ill or estranged; but each writer approaches him with understanding and intention, rather than anger or confusion.”
-LA Times