Father Knows Less Or: "Can I Cook My Sister?": One Dad's Quest to Answer His Son's Most Baffling Questions

by Wendell Jamieson

A New York Times city editor traces his efforts to seek out answers to questions posed by his precocious young son, endeavors during which he interviewed countless experts to discern truths about such topics as the pain of a jellyfish sting and the reason that police officers like doughnuts.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Parenting, Biography, Memoir, Adult, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2007

Reviews

[ibnumaroghi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inti ceritanya adalah tentang pertanyaan-pertanyaan aneh di dalam dunia anak yang dijawab secara langsung oleh ahlinya. Agak rumit penjelasannya, tetapi pertanyaan-pertanyaan aneh itulah sebenarnya yang menarik dari buku ini [bukannya malah jawaban dari ahlinya atas pertanyaan itu].

Buku ini adalah semacam 'panduan' bagi pasangan muda untuk mendidik anaknya dalam meniti kehidupannya. Entah atas dasar apa saya bisa sampai membelinya, samapi sekarang buku ini masih menjadi kitab acuan saya untuk mendikte saya agar bisa menjadi orangtua yang care terhadap anaknya [oke, gua memang masih panjang jalan gua menuju ke jenjang perkawinan, sih]. Really inspiring!

[A.M. Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty dang funny. The author literally took the questions of children directly to the professional source he thought could best answer them. I actually learned quite a lot myself, so it's worth a read, especially if you're a fan of random knowledge.

[Becky]

Jamieson, city editor for the New York Times, whose seven-year-old son, Dean, has been in full-bore question mode for the past few years, decided that the best strategy for giving Dean the answers was also to give himself a challenge. He would get each answer from a real person who knows it by heart, whose very livelihood depends on the knowledge that Jamieson would present without sugarcoating or simplification. The result is a compendium of hilariously insightful questions from kids (age seven and under) with often insightfully hilarious answers from adults ranging from a doctor discussing the difference between somatic and neuropathic pain (What would hurt more: getting run over by a car or getting stung by a jellyfish?) to a dominatrix explaining Mach 1 air speed (If you don’t hit anything with it, how does a whip make that noise?). Jamieson helpfully organizes the questions by theme into chapters, although his introductory anecdotes to each, while amusing, should have been drastically reduced to make room for more questions. Too bad this funny and fascinating book is coming out in September: it makes a perfect Father’s Day gift for any dad whose child has ever asked, Why is the sky blue? or Why do we have eyebrows? or What does ’sexy’ mean?

–It’s amusing for the most part. The questions are some that my kids have asked me (why is the sky blue, etc), but I don’t think some of the explanations/experts are appropriate for the age group of the child asking the questions for example; having a dominatrix answer the question of “If you don’t hit anything with it, how does a whip make that noise?”. I don’t know about you, but in my house, that would just beget more questions about what a dominatrix is, why someone would want one, so on and so forth.

I recommend this as a “bathroom-reader” for adults.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know that kids ask a ton of questions and, often, ones we don’t really know the answers to. Sure, we might fake a response, make a joke out of the question or simply say, I don’t know. Author and New York Times editor Wendell Jamieson ups the ante for all adults.

Jamieson’s first book, Father Knows Less, takes questions from his son Dean (and many other curious kids) seriously by providing real answers from notable experts to kids’ craziest questions. The results are interesting, often funny, and sometimes shocking.

Take this example… “Dad, what would hurt more: getting run over by a car or getting stung by a jellyfish?” Jamieson takes the question to Dr. Sudhir Diwan, director of the Division of Pain Medicine at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. It turns out that Dean’s question has hit on the division between somatic (coming from tissues, bones, cartilage and muscles) and neuropathic pain (from irritation to the nerves). The conclusion? The jellyfish sting, because neuropathic pain can be generalized all over the entire body, with the pain itself possibly leading to shock and death.

Ouch - I would've fallen down on doing that kind of research.

Questions run the gamut with gems like: “What is the difference between joking and lying?” “Why do policemen like donuts?” And, they’re not all tame: “Do large animals need help to have sex?” And often philosophical: “Why do people buy things they don’t need?”

Jamieson is a wonderful writer, and (fortunately for the reader) the questions and answers, are embedded in a larger narrative describing Jamieson’s relationship with his son, his own memories of being an inquisitive kid, and his experience of fatherhood. This is a great book for parents with young kids, adults who work with children, or anyone with a bit of childish curiosity still intact.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Why is the sky blue?" "Were Tyrannasaurus Rexes mean?" Kids ask a lot of questions. This book sets out to answer them. Divided into chapters by roughly by subject matter, this book covers questions about linguistics, sex, biology, physics, and more. While most questions are drawn from the author's own children and friends' children, some are posed by children whose parents found their way to his website.

A book like this runs the risk of preciousness (awwww, look at those cute things kids ask) and I can't say that the author avoided it. I do appreciate, however, that he didn't talk down to the kids, and went straight to the Experts. The author didn't shirk on experts, either, but lined up an impressive array of academics and policymakers who, in turn, didn't talk down either.

The main weakness of the book was the personal essays used to link each chapter to one another. While I appreciated the author trying to create a narrative link, I found them rather dull and self indulgent. The exception was the epilogue, which provided some necessary thoughtfulness and gravity.

All in all, this was a somewhat weightier "bathroom book". Easy, accessible snippets to be picked up and put down and not thought about in between reads.

[AJ Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this because it contained tons of random knowledge - which I love. The whole premise is that the author has a very inquisitive son and he is unable to answer many, or most, of the questions he asks. So, he decides to go to the "experts" to answer all of his sons questions. He even goes another step and had readers send in questions to his website which he then got answers to from experts.

It was interesting, and I especially liked the stories he told about his family. His father and mother often just made up answers to his questions, and he was determined not to do the same. So while the information was interesting, I liked the personal stories better.

The only thing that I didn't necessarily like was that I don't think he always went to the "expert" on a certain topic to have it answered. While he usually got an interesting person to answer, I don't think he reached his stated goal of having the most expert person in a field answer the questions. I think a lot of that probably had to do with many people just didn't answer the questions (and he admited as much sometimes), but it also changed his initial claim.

Interesting, and worthwhile, but not the greatest book ever.

[John J Questore · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with a lot of my books, I bought this one on a whim at the local Dollar Tree. I was intrigued by the title - "Father Knows Less or: 'Can I Cook My Sister?'" My sister and I are seven years apart (I'm older) and, while that question never crossed my mind, I completely understood the sentiment.

But it turned out that the book wasn't about sibling rivalry - it was much more. It's a charming book about a new father (the author) not wanting to give the typical "parent" answer to his children when they ask the myriad of questions that children do. You know the answers I mean - "Where do babies come from?" "A stork brings them."

Wendell Jamieson took the time to track down experts to answer questions that his son Dean asked, as well as the questions other kids asked (via a website he set up). The answers are presented in a very no-nonsense way - not at a child's level, but as a "here it is" manner.

The start of each chapter is a little bit about the trials and tribulations of a new parent - dealing with developmental issues (his son had a speech impairment), dealing with fast changes in interests, and just dealing with a child in general.

Even if you don't have kids, this was a quick read that most will enjoy. And I'm sure you'll learn something.

[Rob Kirbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

The question and answer part of the book was cute. But to me, this book highlights the joyful phenomenon of a very hands-on father reliving his own childhood alongside his young son. The text speaks to family dynamics: The author shares memories of his own parents' divorcing while simultaneously trying to look at his own marriage through the eyes of his son; Sibling relationships are an undertone throughout, though the key emphasis of this book are the bonds formed between father and son (the author and his father, and the author and his own son).

My wife bought this book for me several years ago, when our first child was only a couple months old. At that time I would have only given it a couple stars, citing it as a mildly entertaining Q & A-type book. But now that my oldest is almost 6 (the same age as the author's son in the book), I'm seeing this book in a completely different light. The questions and answers seem superfluous in comparison to the author's reflection/discussion on family dynamics and father/son relationships.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book. Jamieson's book is a memoir and a wry look at fatherhood. The heart of the book contains the questions of young children with answers from experts. In behalf of the kids asking the questions, Jamieson sought answers from experts who could talk to children rather than down to them. Read these pages and find out why a whip makes a whooshing sound when you crack it. Find out why some people are ticklish and some are not. Find out why you can't cook your baby sister. This Q&A section is framed by Jamieson's memoir in which he reflects with humor, love, and ironic wit on being a boy plaguing his father with question after question and then becoming the father of a little boy who does the same thing.

First and last, this book is about being fascinated by the world around you and sharing that fascination, respectfully land thoughtfully, across the generations. Oh, and remembering to laugh, too!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book is simple: a father, inspired by his young son’s endless questions, decides to consult experts to learn the real answers to those, plus others submitted by other kids (or really, their parents). The fact that the father is a journalist at the New York Times certainly helped his search for sources, which range from big-name scientists to various engineers and specialists in a number of fields, including a dominatrix. Interspersed are vignettes from his own childhood and accounts of classic parenting moments with his son. I nodded knowingly at the screaming baby, the obsession with trucks, the inability to refrain from comparing your child to others. Throughout he celebrates the inquisitiveness of children and gives some interesting answers, written at an educated (adult) layperson’s level; I learned some things that I didn’t know.

[Topher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids ask some really good questions. Some of them are things that, as an adult, seem totally obvious until you begin to think about it - "why do we have wars?". Others are questions with obvious answers that parents may not want to fully discuss with kids - "where do babies come from?". But others....are just, wow.

Why is it loud when you drive along a highway?

Why don't people make mummies anymore?

Why is Sue (the T-Rex @ The Field Museum) called Sue?

Etc...

The author kept track of all the good questions his kid asked him, and collected other kid questions from friends, neighbors, etc. He then went out and found "experts" to answer them (ie, the question "How high will my balloon go up before it pops?" gets answered by an astronaut). Most of the experts remembered that they were trying to answer a kids question, but none of them talked down to them.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendell Jamieson, an editor at the NY Times, decided that he would go on a quest to answer his son's and other kids' most baffling questions. But rather than look up the questions on the internet, he decided to talk to experts in the fields in which the questions fell. For instance, one kid asked why does a whip make that cracking sound? Wendell talked to a dominatrix.

The book was absolutely fascinating, and I learned so much from reading it. There were things I thought I knew, and my answers were either confirmed or denied (IE why the sky is blue), and there were things I'd never even wondered about and learned (ie why ships have round windows).

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically the author finds experts to answer the questions kids ask like "Where do babies come from?" and "Why is the sky blue?" The questions come from his own childhood, his son, friends kids, and questions contributed by his readers (he writes from the NY Times). He also prefaces each chapter and then certain questions with stories from his life. In a way it reminded me of The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs, in which he details his reading of the Encyclopedia Britannica in one year. In that book he told stories of his life while contributing the factual information he learned by reading the encyclopedia. It was a pretty quick read, and pretty interesting.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to come to the conclusion that I am never going to finish this book. I basically read all the answers to the kid's questions and a little of the surrounding information about the author and his son, but lost all interest soon after. It is a great book in theory and a wonderful read for any new parent who is wondering just how to answer their son or daughters odd questions (well, not really odd, but things we never really think of, because we just take knowing the answers for granted, when really, we may not have a clue.) Some people might love it. I just kind of liked it.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

One dad tries to find the answers to all the random questions asked by his five-year-old son (and other children). Instead of looking up the info himself, he goes to the expert in the field. (i.e. asking Astronomers about black holes, a Dominatrix about how whips make sound, Yoko Ono for a question "Why did the Beatles break up?")

In gets a little flat at the end, and the author does tend to obsess about 9/11 (admittedly, he and his son watched it happen outside their window), but you can skim throught the questions easily enough.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know all those questions that seem ridiculous, but you really wasn't to know the answer anyway? That's what this book is full of and it's wonderful. It's fantastic to see a journalist take his son serious enough to answer all if his questions - and what a heart felt legacy to give to your child that is! I loved this book; Part memoir, part trivial reference material, this novel captures the attention and brings the realization that we're never too old to ask questions, to wonder, and to learn just for knowledge sake - and that we should more often.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book was not what I expected. It is really more of a memoir about being a father and reminiscing about once being a son. Questions are included from both of them as well as other children, but the majority of the book is about why children ask the questions they do and the circumstances surrounding the specific questions of the two. Because of this there are some real insights into parenting that would not be if the book was a simple encyclopedia of children's questions.

[Tony Petrosino · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about the relationship between my godson and his father. Aside from how much this book resonates with me personally, it is an informative, funny, heart-warming and wonderfully written account of what happens when you begin to take very seriously the questions that young children ask. Wendell Jamieson takes these questions and then asks for answers...by some of the leading experts in the world. This is a must read.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I learned from this book: Dads are crazy. Actually, I learned quite a few things from reading the answers Mr. Jamieson found. A few questions were not answered to my satisfaction, like why soap stings your eyes. What is it about the pH balance that makes it sting?
I liked his writing style immensely, and enjoyed the blurbs between answers.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute, and it was in relation to his son. My thing with the question books is that they never intrigue me enough. I want something I never thought about to be answered in an intriguing and thoughtful way. Put into a simple explanation. Kind of like a head slap for not realizing it. Sadly, this wasn't that book.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2* This book was pretty interesting. There were of course some things that I don't care that much about, like how rockets fly, but all in all, Wendell Jamieson covered a lot of ground.

I enjoyed his serious approach to answering children's questions and the fact that he really did find out why it's not cool to cook one's sister.

[James Swenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of kids' genuine, imponderable questions, answered by some of the world's leading authorities. I suppose it helps that the author is an editor at the New York Times, but I was increasingly inspired by the willingness of genuinely impressive experts like Dick Clark to answer questions like "What's a record?"

[Shana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was such an entertaining way to answer all of my childlike questions that nobody else seemed interested in!

Part story of his childhood, part story of his child, part questions of others, then he asked experts in their field to answer the questions. I thought it was fun and entertaining!

[Nicoal · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can get past the feel that the author really adores himself and is amazed at his own parenting abilities, it's a quick, interesting read. It did feel a little like I was reading someone's blog, though.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, but I thought it was more of a browsing book. I couldn't sit and read it straight through, but I did skim and stop at the questions I found particularly interested. I love the premise though!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is interesting the way dad goes about looking for answers to his son's (typical 3 and 4 year old) questions. The answers he got were in the most part satisfying. I sort of liked the author's father's made-up answers to questions better, though. A pleasant read for a snowy, cold morning.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book, but found that the book itself lost my interest in places - especially during the author's exposition. But the questions and answers were fascinating, and I really thought the idea of finding expert answers to childrens' questions was brilliant.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit kind of skipping through some pages on thsi one which is something I normally don't allow myself to do. It's a decent book I suppose but unless you're wondering the answers to the all the questions in the book it gets boring....FAST.

[Cindy Minnich]

I really need to find a copy of this book. It looks amazing. I read the first few pages on amazon.com, was ecstatic to see that the library had it, but then disappointed to find out it's in storage and can't be checked out.

[Christy]

Fun book. The author finds answers to his son's questions by asking an actual authority on the subject. The questions are brought forth in a funny or entertaining way and the answers are very informative- often scientific or secular. I would only recommend this book to other adults/parents.