My Old Man

by Ted Kessler

A collection of paternal experiences - funny, sad, and always moving - with contributions from a wealth of major names in the arts.

If you were asked to write about your father, what would you say?

No two paternal relationships are the same. Every experience, every bond, is unique. And whether happy or sad, fond or fraught, the memories and stories we have about our dads stay with us for ever.

In this carefully curated collection, a dazzling list of contributors - including Florence Welch, Paul Weller, Nina Stibbe and the sons and daughters of Ian Dury, Johnny Ball, Roy Castle, Leonard Cohen and many others - open up, some for the first time, about their paternal experiences. From the heart-rending to the tragic, from expressions of joyful love to a quick snapshot of a life, these beautifully written pieces are also deeply personal. As universal as it is powerful, My Old Man offers a unique opportunity to reflect on our own relationships with our dads.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2016

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The essays, like the fathers described in them, are a mixed bag. Some of the essays are excellent, evocative, and well written. Others are short and unmemorable reflections. The fathers described range from wonderful to downright absent, but in each case there is something to be learned; a story to be told that is worth telling. Reading this book made me wonder, if I were to write one about my own father, whom I love dearly, what would I have to write? Or, if any of my three children were to write an essay like this, what would they say? Reading these essays made me remember why I love being a father, made me want to strive to do it better.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little volume made up of short articles from all sorts of varied contributors on the relationship with their fathers. Some are warm and funny, some are sad, some flawed and some out and out failures. All now look back with the benefit of hindsight, often being parents themselves. We get an insight into famous men-Leonard Cohen, Ian Drury, Roy Castle and Johnny Ball for instance, and famous men & women recount how their fathers shaped them, almost always for the good ; Chris Martin, Rod Stewart, Florence Welch, Paul Weller, Julie Birchall. What is apparent is that everyone's experience, famous or not, is different; yet amongst them you will undoubtedly find a couple that ring so true with your personal experience-I certainly did and was close to tears on two or three occasions (my dad no longer being with us). Now perhaps one about mothers?

[David Macnamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, it’s a bit light and has some interesting contributions. It’s a rare book in the fact I might end up reading it again one day.

[Dan Rosengarten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of essays. Some beautifully written but not all.

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kind of book you can read in one sitting, but don't because you want to make it last longer.