cover image From Deadlines to Diapers: Journal of an At-Home Father

From Deadlines to Diapers: Journal of an At-Home Father

Mike Perricone. Noble Press Inc, $11.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-1-879360-22-8

Perricone's account of how he quit his job as a sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times to be the primary care-giver for his daughter, Jenny, proves him to be a loving, wonderful father. When Perricone is focusing on the role of gender in full-time parenting or using his reportorial abilities, the book amuses and informs. His discussion on other fathers who are at home with their kids, on how fathers react to the movie The Little Mermaid and on feeling like the ``second'' parent despite being the primary care-giver suggest the perspective that would have made this book special. Unfortunately, there's too little of this type of information. Instead, Perricone devotes a large portion of the book, based on his columns for the Sun-Times , to his and his wife's lives before Jenny was born, and all too often he suffers from parental myopia: the belief that the seemingly miraculous events surrounding his baby, from childbirth to learning to walk, are unique. Perricone is a good reporter, but an average storyteller. The result for the reader is akin to being trapped in an elevator with an acquaintance who wants to tell you more than you want to know about his child. (Feb.)