Family Man

by Calvin Trillin

Book Overview

Calvin Trillin begins his wise and charming ruminations on family by stating the sum total of his child-rearing advice: "Try to get one that doesn't spit up. Otherwise, you're on your own." Suspicious... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374525838
• ISBN13: 9780374525835
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Portrait of a happy family

I lost my first copy of this book when I visited a relative in the hospital and she asked if I had anything she could read. I liked it enough to go get another one. This is not a "and then we did this and then the next month we did that" sort of diary. Trillin describes the things his family liked to do together, and gradually the picture emerges: parents deeply involved with their children, not talking down to them or treating them as lil' tykes, but giving them a rich family life that includes a well-rounded cultural education (which sounds stuffy: it isn't). Trillin's philosophy is "Either your children are the center of your life, or they're not," and this book details how he and his wife Alice centered their life around their daughters - involving themselves but never helicoptering. This is a lovely story.

beautiful view of family life

This is an inspiring book giving words to what it feels like to be a parent and live in a family. It gives hope in a period where there is cynicism in just about everything. This could be a gift to a couple expecting a child and it could be used for a good discussion about parenting. It is also a great read for anyone. It shows what is often forgotten--parenting is not a science, it is an art. Trillin is certainly an artist.

Enjoyable humor; relaxing entertainmnet

I really enjoyed this book at lot. Lots of amusing stories about family life, New York life, ex-Midwestern life. Living 60 miles from Trillum's Kansas City home town related to some of his Midwest episodes. The "Chigger" secton was very funny, even though I was scratching my own bites while reading.I especially liked the stories about the Halloween parades, and taking the kid to the local community musical productions.Lots of funny lines; I kept reading aloud from it to my wife -- she ended up reading the book to.

Familiar Material, But Still Among The Best Writers Around

I have long thought that Calvin Trillin was one of the best, and most verstile, writers around. Here, he is in the gentle but comic territory of Travels With Alice. Some of us wish that he would take on weightier stuff, as he did early on in An Education In Georgia and more recently in Remembering Denny. Nevertheless, a very good read, particularly for those of us with kids.

Funny, heartwarming, human tale of urban family life.

This book is a must for New Yorkers past and present to smell and taste again the reasons you can't ever really leave the big apple. Non- New Yorkers might better understand the sometimes inexplicable loyalty that some of us have to life in the big city. Calvin Trillin is the warm and self-effacing eccentric at the head of this charming urban family group and his folksy style will win your heart in no time. When asked for advice on parenting, his best wisdom is "Try to get one that doesn't spit up." He is the father who gets hooked on every family ritual that they invent or stumble upon and carries the torch for them long after the kids have grown up and left home. He also becomes the repository for the unique Trillin family language and it's colorful history. You'll want to sign up for the next Trillin family gathering and you'll never want to go home. This is a truly lovely read and the perfect antidote to Kenneth Starr and other icons of cynicism! .