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Crawling: A Father's First Year
“There’s a head sticking out of my best friend . . . This isn’t a miracle, it’s assault. I’d call 911 but we’re already in a hospital.” So begins the birth of Elisha Cooper’s daughter, and so begins this touching and hilarious chronicle of his year as a first-time father.
Cooper gives voice to the life-changing joy, anxiety, exhaustion, and pride of new parents everywhere. At first he struggles with the “pink plastic tsunami” of baby gifts, before eventually coming to see the value of the flashy electric baby swing he nicknames “Las Vegas.” He wishes he could go for a walk with his wife, alone. He worries about protecting his child, even as he comes to the growing realization that he cannot. And throughout, he discovers new ways in which his life has changed. What’s changed? Everything.
Parents of all stripes will immediately recognize themselves here, from the bewildering numbness of sleep deprivation to the overpowering wonder felt when looking into the eyes of one’s child. Figuring it out–getting it right or getting it wrong–is all part of being a new father. Elisha Cooper has recorded every single moment of it in this charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply loving book.
Cooper gives voice to the life-changing joy, anxiety, exhaustion, and pride of new parents everywhere. At first he struggles with the “pink plastic tsunami” of baby gifts, before eventually coming to see the value of the flashy electric baby swing he nicknames “Las Vegas.” He wishes he could go for a walk with his wife, alone. He worries about protecting his child, even as he comes to the growing realization that he cannot. And throughout, he discovers new ways in which his life has changed. What’s changed? Everything.
Parents of all stripes will immediately recognize themselves here, from the bewildering numbness of sleep deprivation to the overpowering wonder felt when looking into the eyes of one’s child. Figuring it out–getting it right or getting it wrong–is all part of being a new father. Elisha Cooper has recorded every single moment of it in this charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply loving book.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
7 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
July 8, 2011
Some of the insights are genuinely touching. The author expresses his insecurities and self-doubts about his ability to father his newborn child in a refreshing and (now) relatable way.
But I found it difficult to get beyond the author's almost obnoxiously idyllic station. He writes and illustrates children's books. He's a Yale graduate who can stay at home and take care of his daughter during the day while his wife reads for her PhD at Cal. He lives in the Berkeley Hills where he visits his local gourmet coffee shop every morning to buy his regular coffee and scone. He complains about shoppers wearing bicycle helmets in the aisles of the local health-food grocery store. They're regulars at Chez Panisse.
That said, it’s quick and light and may be worth it overall for the tiny (sometimes moving) revelations about fatherhood and parenting sprinkled throughout.
But I found it difficult to get beyond the author's almost obnoxiously idyllic station. He writes and illustrates children's books. He's a Yale graduate who can stay at home and take care of his daughter during the day while his wife reads for her PhD at Cal. He lives in the Berkeley Hills where he visits his local gourmet coffee shop every morning to buy his regular coffee and scone. He complains about shoppers wearing bicycle helmets in the aisles of the local health-food grocery store. They're regulars at Chez Panisse.
That said, it’s quick and light and may be worth it overall for the tiny (sometimes moving) revelations about fatherhood and parenting sprinkled throughout.
October 6, 2019
I'm sorry, but this book was just meh to me. Maybe I should have rated it 2.5, but that would round up to a 3, and I just can't go there. It seemed to me that this author was always trying too hard, was trying for the laugh that I thought fell flat. Perhaps because I'm female but not a mother, therefore can't relate to the experiences of a new parent, but I had to force myself to finish the book. Seems as if he did way too much coffee drinking and taking walks through Berkley. The book just didn't speak to me. Or perhaps I should say the author didn't.
October 22, 2019
Here is the male version of Anne LaMotte’s Operating Instructions. Funny, thoughtful, occasionally disturbing (Cooper exhibits a temper regularly), this and the LaMotte books would make excellent presents for parents to be.
July 3, 2007
This is obviously a very quick read, reminiscent of Paul Reiser's memoir Parenthood (could be wrong on the title) from about 10 years back. But Crawling is ten times better in that Cooper kept a journal chronicling every day of his first year as a first-time parent. I have never been able to understand taking on the burden of parenthood, and it seems like Cooper didn't either, until he became one. This is the most honest, endearing, and terrifying account I have ever read and it finally made me understand that urge to bring new life into the world. Cooper manages hilarious yet truthful prose that paints a delightful and engaging picture of children, obnoxious posses of super-moms, too-pink stuffed animals, overprotectiveness, living in the Bay Area, and living for the first time for someone else and not only yourself.
February 8, 2016
I loved this book, and it was a perfect one to read gradually bit by bit (sometimes when up with a newborn in the wee hours of the night) over the course of my first 5.5 months as a new parent. Though I gave it to my husband for his 0th Father's Day, I repeatedly stole it from him so I could read it. Elisha so perfectly captures so many of the emotions and experiences of new parenthood in a witty, pithy, colorful way. It felt like reading a great travel book of a new place as explored it, an account that was filled with places and experiences that were becoming familiar to me and that expressed in words my (sleep-deprived) brain hadn't yet formed some of the many emotions of the experience. It made me laugh out loud multiple times, and I cried reading the last chapter.
January 18, 2009
I feel for the concerns of the author - how to keep your life normal or more normal, once a baby arrives? Yet despite the fact that they live in a one bedroom apartment and seem to have little source of income in a very expensive city, his concerns seem to be chiefly how to keep going to Chez Panisse and getting coffee at the Cheese Board every morning. No humiliating and bank breaking trips to Target for him...just hikes in the Berkeley Hills, musing. I guess it was easier for him than it was in our household,
May 27, 2014
Crawling... Where does that title come from? It is not a theme in the book, or a topic even referenced. It sounds like a bit of clever wit, which is what the book primarily consists of. Crawling is a collection of bits of clever wit. It is like reading a year's worth of blog posts in one book.
That is not to say it is unenjoyable. The story of a father discovering his love for a new person in his love is a relevant story to many, and so this book will always find an audience as long as bookstores keep it in stock.
Just don't look for it on any bestsellers lists.
That is not to say it is unenjoyable. The story of a father discovering his love for a new person in his love is a relevant story to many, and so this book will always find an audience as long as bookstores keep it in stock.
Just don't look for it on any bestsellers lists.
May 14, 2012
This is exactly the type of daughter/daddy book I needed to connect to my wife's pregnancy and the pending arrival of our little girl. I really connected to the author and got a real sense of foreshadowing for what may lie ahead. I had tried reading other "new father" books and they were lame guides that didn't convey the emotions (the good ones and the bad ones) that this little gem was able to do in spades. Bravo!
February 16, 2012
Great book. Helpful to read as a dad after a few months of baby-raising.
October 20, 2017
The author sounds so wise, but doesn't say anything too earth-shattering. I would have enjoyed the book more before I had kids. After one kid, I probably would have related to parts better. After the second kid, his complaining seemed shallow. I thought the book lacked any perspective- if his life is unique, it might be only in how easy it is.
Also, a few minor points- Is Chicago the opposite of Berkley? Is five goats in Connecticut considered a farm?
Also, a few minor points- Is Chicago the opposite of Berkley? Is five goats in Connecticut considered a farm?
December 4, 2018
Loved this. Beautiful, poetical, lyrical writing. Also, the physical size and dimensions of the book were perfect.
December 22, 2019
More light entertaining than providing deep fatherly insights.
February 27, 2012
Enjoyable book full of shared memories a father has of his daughters first year of life (and his first year as a parent). I enjoyed the humor and poignancy in which this dad shares experiences common to almost every parent. Would be rated PG-13 for the use of profanity (in fact, he remarks on how his daughter's first word might be a swear due to his frequent cussing).
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"The mothers were bent over truck-sized strollers crammed with toys and commandeered by litle dictators. THese mothers had been editors and lawyers and now they were servants."
"Ever since Zoe was born I have never driven faster (though when she's in the car I dive like a grandmother without her glasses)...On every errand there's a clock...Each minute becomes precious...I'm always five minutes late."
"But here I am in what feels like the fight of my life. A battle with a baby. I'm fighting a thing the size of a Muppet who makes me angrier than I have ever been. As I walk down the street in Oakland I am yelling (under my breath though, so as not to arouse suspicion), "Stop it! Stop crying!" And just before the urge to throw Zoe into the bushes becomes more than an urge, I think about my goats... What saved me on that street in Oakland was recognizing that at some deep level I am flawed (that and the prospect of jail time), knowing that the flaws I have are my own, and that this girl and I will be joined together for a long long time, for years, and that if I can just ride it out for the next five minutes, and for the five minutes after that, we will be okay and may even ride happily into the Western sunset."
"Since Zoe was born I find I've been selfish in small and not pretty ways. Mostly I'm selfish with time. When we eat out I'll let Elise take Zoe outside while I pay the check, and it's because it gives me the two extra minutes to sit and enjoy my coffee."
"Our time lengthens, focused as we are on the small and the mundane, and both of us are able to give the other what we need. It's as if the desert of time became less daunting as soon as I saw we could just sit in the sand."
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"The mothers were bent over truck-sized strollers crammed with toys and commandeered by litle dictators. THese mothers had been editors and lawyers and now they were servants."
"Ever since Zoe was born I have never driven faster (though when she's in the car I dive like a grandmother without her glasses)...On every errand there's a clock...Each minute becomes precious...I'm always five minutes late."
"But here I am in what feels like the fight of my life. A battle with a baby. I'm fighting a thing the size of a Muppet who makes me angrier than I have ever been. As I walk down the street in Oakland I am yelling (under my breath though, so as not to arouse suspicion), "Stop it! Stop crying!" And just before the urge to throw Zoe into the bushes becomes more than an urge, I think about my goats... What saved me on that street in Oakland was recognizing that at some deep level I am flawed (that and the prospect of jail time), knowing that the flaws I have are my own, and that this girl and I will be joined together for a long long time, for years, and that if I can just ride it out for the next five minutes, and for the five minutes after that, we will be okay and may even ride happily into the Western sunset."
"Since Zoe was born I find I've been selfish in small and not pretty ways. Mostly I'm selfish with time. When we eat out I'll let Elise take Zoe outside while I pay the check, and it's because it gives me the two extra minutes to sit and enjoy my coffee."
"Our time lengthens, focused as we are on the small and the mundane, and both of us are able to give the other what we need. It's as if the desert of time became less daunting as soon as I saw we could just sit in the sand."
June 30, 2015
I don't think I'd be good pals with the cussing, sports-loving, California-homesick author. And why do the review blurbs on the back claim it's an "unsentimental" book? He is SO sentimental---not always about the baby herself, but he over-romanticizes life in the Bay Area and New York, and can't conceive of living in the Midwest or even visiting a chain restaurant.
(Of course I can be as judgmental and sentimental as he is, in my own way... but hey, we always dislike those who remind us of our own faults, right?)
But it *is* a well-written memoir of how a baby changes your views on the world, your expectations, your preconceptions. I couldn't relate to many of his particular pre-baby habits and preferences, but I do relate to the process of change.
Some funny lines I can identify with:
* p.25: I'm sleeping. I should be sleeping worse, I really should. I almost wish I were sleeping worse if only out of a sense of solidarity (okay, not really). When morning comes I feel like I'm meeting [my wife] at the end of the marathon and we're standing around and talking about what a long hard race it was though the fact is that I took the bus.
* p.70: She's been crying differently, too, low and guttural, like a cement mixer. Sometimes she punctuates her cries with a shriek and it's a cement mixer running over a cat.
(Of course I can be as judgmental and sentimental as he is, in my own way... but hey, we always dislike those who remind us of our own faults, right?)
But it *is* a well-written memoir of how a baby changes your views on the world, your expectations, your preconceptions. I couldn't relate to many of his particular pre-baby habits and preferences, but I do relate to the process of change.
Some funny lines I can identify with:
* p.25: I'm sleeping. I should be sleeping worse, I really should. I almost wish I were sleeping worse if only out of a sense of solidarity (okay, not really). When morning comes I feel like I'm meeting [my wife] at the end of the marathon and we're standing around and talking about what a long hard race it was though the fact is that I took the bus.
* p.70: She's been crying differently, too, low and guttural, like a cement mixer. Sometimes she punctuates her cries with a shriek and it's a cement mixer running over a cat.
May 10, 2011
This daddy’s first year sags nowhere, neither in the beginning, the middle, nor at the end of his first year. Candor is his virtue, and bravery too, leaving not one page where I wasn’t taken by the humor and assiduous metaphors. My favorite parts were Zoe’s birth — he’d call 911 but was already in the hospital… the Sportscenter & the Beastie Boy — the entire premise musing around the “f” word… the Crips’ in the playground I liked too, and of course the dog at the end. That scene in the parking lot was a beautiful wrap-up. — And hats off to Elise as well. I thought about her a lot…right up until the move to Chicago, which brought on a big cheer...and tear.
Crawling is a wonderful keepsake, one I suspect Zoe will treasure forever. She has one of the bravest daddy’s in the world.
Crawling is a wonderful keepsake, one I suspect Zoe will treasure forever. She has one of the bravest daddy’s in the world.
January 4, 2008
Very cute little book - Elisha Cooper gives us an honest account of how completely terrifying and hilarious it is to be a young parent that is also trying to hang on to some shred of one's previous life. Being a resident of the SF/Oakland/Berkeley area AND a youngish parent (at least by Bay Area standards) made it that much easier to relate to the book, which drops in several references to local establishments and staples. A bit like Neil Pollack's Alternadad or the Mimi Smartypants blog or stuff published by Hip Mama, in that it fits into the small but growing genre of hipster parenting memoirs. If you are an urban parent (or know someone who is) you'll probably really dig this book.
May 28, 2013
Elisha Cooper's artwork and whimsical accompanying narrative have been favorites for several years. "Crawling: A Father's First Year" ups the ante as he openly exposes his impatience and discomfort with many of the changes that his daughter brings to what had been a relatively carefree and calm lifestyle. He's funny, witty, startlingly frank. His gradual falling in love with this demanding little soul and delighted acceptance of his realignment of priorities are sweet and poignant. It's a quick, well-written read, one that will engage and appeal to anyone who's experienced their own maturing, and changed appreciation of life when a child is added to the mix.
May 25, 2008
Cooper's prose is simple, small-scale, and spare like his illustrations. The simile doesn't stop there, though. Like his illustrations, there are times where this just hits you right in the heart, captured moments in the crazy endeavor of making a person that seem absolutely perfect and true. And like his illustrations, there are times when the crazy endeavor of making a person cannot be reduced in scale or to a cartoon. But on the whole, the book errs toward the right and true, I think. I'll let you know when I'm a father.
February 4, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. Its wry sense of humor combined with the feeling of watching the author falling in love with his daughter really did draw me into the story and push me forward. I had previously read "The Poo Bomb," and couldn't help but compare this book to that, even though they are not very much alike at all. "Crawling" was kind of like "The Poo Bomb" on This American Life/NPR. The stories are sweet, funny and heart-warming, which made for a great reading experience.
June 13, 2008
It was so great to read a book about parenthood from a father's perspective! This book chronicles the author's adventures as (essentially) a stay-at-home-dad while his wife completed her PhD. His writing style is frank and funny, but he doesn't hit you over the head with it - he has a light touch.
Do read this if you're interested in hearing what a smart, sensitive, literate guy has to say about being a new parent.
Do read this if you're interested in hearing what a smart, sensitive, literate guy has to say about being a new parent.
December 30, 2015
This is another book I read a few years ago...reminded about it by a photo posted on Facebook of a friend's husband reading a book called The Expectant Father.
I just read the "Preview" provided by goodreads to refresh my memory, to remind me of why I have such fond memories of this book. It all came back to me.
Cooper's writing is funny, touching, honest, loving, and provides the perfect gift book for a new dad!
I just read the "Preview" provided by goodreads to refresh my memory, to remind me of why I have such fond memories of this book. It all came back to me.
Cooper's writing is funny, touching, honest, loving, and provides the perfect gift book for a new dad!
December 23, 2007
This is a nice easy read for new father's who are typically on about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. Definitely related to, and got a laugh out of many of the anecdotes. I found the author a little self-celebratory, though. Or perhaps, I am just jealous that I don't have the time to walk my daughter to get a latte in Berkeley, CA every morning!
January 11, 2012
A few moments of profound honesty about parenting when the author risks saying things that are generally impermissible. That and some of the touching and sweet moments with his daughter almost redeemed the annoying way he writes himself into the Berkeley landscape as if he too represents the city's unique cultural history.
July 19, 2016
This was a cute little book, describing the woes and challenges of being a new parent. It was nice to reminisce about the trials and tribulations of that first year, but the writing could have been better. If you are not a parent, you are unlikely to appreciate this book, but if you have a child, I recommend taking the time to read this thin tome.
April 30, 2012
I've known Eli for years now - he published several books with Chronicle when I first started working there. He writes children's books primarily, and this is his first primarily prose book for adults. It's about his first year as a parent, and is also a tribute to his life in Berkeley (he now lives in Chicago). I thought it was funny and surprisingly candid.
November 5, 2012
What's up with the Berkeley parenting memoirs? My 3rd in 3 months! Still, this may be my favorite. Light with moments of depth, honest without being uncomfortable. Short. It's also one of the few I've read that I think the child described will really enjoy reading someday. Bravo - that's not an easy balance to strike.
January 21, 2014
The main character/narrator was a rather annoying/pretentious/hipster type. Sometimes I just wanted to shake some sense into him. On the whole, however, I enjoyed reading about his adventures caring for his new baby - though he could be *so* oblivious. Describing a baby as a 'handbag' that they 'spilled olive oil on' at a fancy restaurant because they forgot she was there? Please.
December 5, 2016
This was a really fun book about being a new father. Even though it wasn't a classic instructional parenting guide like so many other books in this genre, it is really helpful in setting expectations about what it's like to be a dad. Elisha Cooper doesn't hold back about what's going on in his head and it truly had me laughing and crying in the same paragraph.
August 27, 2007
I really enjoyed this book. It captures a lot of the emotion I felt as a father when our first child was born. Of course the author got to spend a lot more time with his child than I did with mine since he was a writer. This is a must read for new dads or soon to be dads. Enjoy!
January 9, 2008
This is an utterly delightful description of the first year of fatherhood. Written by the close friend of our oldest daughter, it is for fathers and mothers and kids, and you too - because everyone will laugh their way thru Elisha's first year.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews