The Daddy Diaries
Buy the Book: AmazonPublished by: Prince Street Press
Release Date: 05/05/15
Pages: 288
ISBN13: 978-0986417504
Overview
The Daddy Diaries is a humorous and poignant novel about a relationship between a stay-at-home dad and his two preteen kids. When his wife goes to work full-time in a beach town in Florida, Jay must acclimate to life in the south. With a rich but stupid older brother, a lunatic townie friend, and a teen son who’s ready to know what a “threesome” is, Jay’s world is thrown about as far as California to Florida.
Praise
“Braff has a gift for writing in a way that reflects who people are while recognizing who they would like to be…Serious, realistic, and insightful domestic fiction.”
—Booklist
“As evidenced by his two previous novels, Braff is fascinated by the human condition. But this is a new one, and intensely personal.”
—San Jose Mercury News
“The Daddy Diaries is a fantastically well-written novel with rich characters who evolve from chapter to chapter. Feeling like it was written for me only added to my enjoyment.”
—City Dad’s Group
“The Daddy Diaries is light, breezy and funny, although it still manages to explore serious themes about parenthood.”
—The Reporter
“Truths about the messiness of life give emotion to this novel of family, change, and growing pains”
—Foreword Reviews
“Honest and heartfelt, Joshua Braff’s novel about the perils of 21st century fatherhood contains more moments of truth than several hundred bestselling memoirs or self-help books. The wry humor and compulsive readability may remind readers of Jonathan Tropper or Nick Hornby, but the hard-won wisdom and disarming vulnerability in “The Daddy Diaries” is all Braff’s own.”
—Adam Langer, author of The Thieves of Manhattan
“At last! A deeply felt, deeply thoughtful book about men who caretake, wives who provide and kids making their way in a weird new world. Braff deftly knocks aside tired old stereotypes and introduces us to flawed and funny people doing their best to lead authentic lives. Smart, soulful and even, dare I say it, Important.”
—Christopher Noxon, author of Plus One
Backstory
I write fiction based on truth, which allows me to venture right or left regardless of whether it happened or not. I started with short stories, early 90’s, and published three in grad school. I saw them as very “close camera” looks into the intricacies of relationships. The art was in the capturing of the everyday, just two people on the porch on any given Tuesday. Not the birthday or Christmas or the day he won the lottery but an actual Tuesday. Novels have to move quicker and more vastly than just a snapshot of a porch. But that porch can be a scene within the novel and if it’s written well it can actually help guide more of the story. That patchwork of scenes is how novels start for me. With The Daddy Diaries I was writing actual journal type entries in the first draft. I am a stay at home dad, which means I’m a part of a growing number of couples that see it best that mom bring home the bacon while dad gets down and dirty with the greatly unappreciated tasks of healthy child rearing. Since my instinct for writing began with these close camera looks at people, my well was full as far as wanting to write about my life as a househusband. The Daddy Diaries is the result of two plus years after those journal entries and building and shaping a relatable “ride” for parents and the children of those parents.
Video
Watch Joshua and Zach Braff Discuss The Daddy Diaries at the Strand
