Dad is Fat

Title: Dad is Fat

Author: Jim Gaffigan

Genre: Humor, Non-Fiction, Memoir

Time: 3.8 hours

2015 Book Challenge: a book you started but never finished

This is a pretty easy challenge because I tend to have a lot of unfinished books.  I read what I feel like and sometimes, no matter how great a book is, it’s not what I’m feeling at that moment.  And when I run out of books to try out, I get back to these books and see if they “click” with my mood. 

 

So I have a lot of books to choose from for this challenge.  I chose this one, knowing this would be a fast and easy read since this is supposed to be a funny book and I really want to finish this challenge within January.

 

I started reading this book last September 9, 2014.  I know I chose this because I thought it was going to be like the Chelsea Handler books where I literally laughed out loud when I read it.  I remember it wasn’t so bad but just getting bored with it and moved on to Mindy Kaling’s book.  Thanks to the magic of technology, I get to pick up where I left off, which is around 42% of the book.

 

What can I say?  If it weren’t for the challenge, I might have not finished this book the second time.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not soo bad, it wasn’t such a struggle to finish it.  It was just, not good. 

 

It’s about being a dad… of five kids all under 8 years old… in New York… living in a small 2-bedroom apartment.  See? it does have potential.  The problem with it is it tried too hard.  Like when I was reading it, I knew the writer was exaggerating things on purpose so it’ll be funny.  But if you’re constantly talking in the hyperbole, page after page after page, eventually, my reaction would be, seriously?? And maybe it’s an Asian thing, but half the time, I was going like: Why is he letting his kids make all the rules?? Why can’t he just tell his no?? I know, I know, it’s all exaggerated coz exaggeration equals funny.  But I’m like, when I was a kid, that shit won’t fly with my parents.

 

There was just no balance here.  It was just too much of one thing.  An example of doing it just right is the Sh*t My Dad Says book.  There was an element of extreme but it was balanced by endearing moments sprinkled here and there.