What dads are reading--it's not what you think
Ask a dad what he's reading. The answer may surprise you. After conducting the first annual, informal, not so carefully monitored, survey of the smallest pool of reading fathers ever, this is what we discovered this morning. Dads are extremely unpredictable readers.
Are they reading one of the recent Pulitzer Prize winners? No.
The latest manly man-fiction? Not a chance.
Maybe something mind-stimulating, like What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science by Max Brockman. Not a chance.
To a man, all of the dads who took part in this Father's Day survey were re-reading an old favorite. Perhaps, this means when times are a little uncertain, men reach for the comfort of the books they love. Old friends they can count on?
Whatever the reasons, here are the books these dads are reading:
- The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman—A collection of Feynman's writings about the joys of life and learning.
- Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour—A memoir from the master of the western cowboy, about a life of globe-trotting and reading.
- First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe by Richard Preston—Nonfiction that this dad says reads like fiction, about astronomers at Palomar Observatory and their adventures with the Hale Telescope.
Even though it's Father's Day, one mother wanted to participate in this survey, so risking the integrity of such a tightly controlled endeavor, in the interest of fairness she was allowed to add her voice.
So, what new and exciting best-seller is she reading? You guessed it. Her choice is even older than the guys' picks. She is reading (maybe for the tenth time) A Thousand Miles up the Nile by Amelia B. Edwards. She found a copy of this classic for $9.95 several years ago and she calls it her best find ever.
Well, that's it for this year's survey. It might be interesting to conduct a Father's Day inquiry of your own.
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I'm a big non-fiction reader too. Enjoyed Feynman's book.
Send your dad a copy of Michio Kaku's "Physics of the Impossible". He'll love it.
Posted by: The Mother | June 26, 2009 at 10:33 AM
My dad was a big Louis L'Amour fan. I even read a few of them while marooned booklessly on a family vacation. A little formulaic, but not bad at all! Thanks for the memory jog.
Posted by: J.G. | June 22, 2009 at 06:04 PM