Download Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Fredrik Backman 9781501196867 Books
![]()
Download As PDF : Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Fredrik Backman 9781501196867 Books
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove shares an irresistible and moving collection of heartfelt, humorous essays about fatherhood, providing his newborn son with the perspective and tools he’ll need to make his way in the world. Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience fatherhood.
As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the “firsts” that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn’t shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and mid-life crises to practical jokes and poop.
In between the sleep-deprived lows and wonderful highs, Backman takes a step back to share the true story of falling in love with a woman who is his complete opposite, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care about unconditionally. Alternating between humorous side notes and longer essays offering his son advice as he grows up and ventures out into the world, Backman relays the big and small lessons in life, including
-How to find the team you belong to
-Why airports explain everything about religion and war
-The reason starting a band is crucial to cultivating and keeping friendships
-How to beat Monkey Island 3
-Why, sometimes, a dad might hold onto his son’s hand just a little too tight
This is an irresistible and insightful collection, perfect for new parents and fans of Backman’s “unparalleled understanding of human nature” (
Shelf Awareness). As he eloquently reminds us, “You can be whatever you want to be, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.”
Download Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Fredrik Backman 9781501196867 Books
"One. of my all time favorite books was Backman's A Man Called Ove so I expected to love this too but was very bored by it. Think it may have appeal to new parents - I am a grandparent and I had to force myself to finish it. It was very repetitive, for example at least twice in the Chapter "What You Need to Know About Being a Man" Backman says They say that sooner or later the majority of men turn into their fathers. But I hope that isn't true." An example of the humor in this book is, referring to his wife: "I can easily think of a hundred people who would follow her blindly into a war. I can barely get people to follow me on Twitter."
It hardly every made me laugh out loud whereas A Man Called Ove made me both laugh and cry. I think it's a book for new parents as I've said before who think that their every action is going to have a lifelong influence on their amazing new babies.
Backman says at one point referring to a practical joke he has planned "Then it's quite possible that this whole idea was a
LITTLE bit funnier in theory than it was in practice. Let's suppose that." That could be said of this book as well."
Product details - Hardcover 208 pages
- Publisher Atria Books (May 7, 2019)
- Language English
- ISBN-10 1501196863
|
Tags : Things My Son Needs to Know about the World [Fredrik Backman] on . <b>The #1 New York Times </i>bestselling author of A Man Called Ove</i> shares an irresistible and moving </b><b>collection of heartfelt,Fredrik Backman,Things My Son Needs to Know about the World,Atria Books,1501196863,Authors, Swedish - 21st century,Authors, Swedish;21st century;Biography.,Backman, Fredrik,Fatherhood - Sweden,Fatherhood;Anecdotes.,Fatherhood;Sweden;Anecdotes.,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs,BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY,Biography/Autobiography,CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND REARING,FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS / Parenting / Fatherhood,Family Relationships/Parenting - Fatherhood,GENERAL,General Adult,HUMOR / Topic / Marriage Family,Humor/General,Non-Fiction,PARENT AND CHILD,Personal Memoir,Sweden,United States,memoir; Man Called Ove; Beartown; And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer; Us Against You; Britt-Marie Was Here; Deal of a Lifetime; My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry; parents; parenthood; parenting; father; fatherhood; fathers; fathers and sons; dad; dads; new dads; babies; family life; marriage; husbands; humour; funny; bookseller favorite; father's day present; gifts for dads; gifts for new dads; cheap fathers day gifts; funny fathers; shower gift; having a baby; good dad story; advice for dads; first baby; paternity leave; best books for dads; Joe Biden; Promise Me; Dad; Michael Chabon; Pops; David Chariandy; I've Been Meaning to Tell You; Michael Lewis; Home Game; Justin Halpern; Sh*t My Dad Says; lessons; childhood; Swedish; Sweden;,memoir; Man Called Ove; Beartown; And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer; Us Against You; Swedish; Sweden; Britt-Marie Was Here; Deal of a Lifetime; My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry; parents; parenthood; parenting; father; fatherhood; fathers; fathers and sons; dad; dads; new dads; babies; family life; marriage; husbands; humour; funny; bookseller favorite; father's day present; gifts for dads; funny fathers; shower gift; having a baby; good dad story; advice for dads; first baby; paternity leave; best books for dads; Joe Biden; Michael Chabon; Pops; David Chariandy; I've Been Meaning to Tell You; Michael Lewis; Home Game; Justin Halpern; Sh*t My Dad Says; lessons; childhood; gifts for new dads; cheap fathers day gifts; Promise Me
Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Fredrik Backman 9781501196867 Books Reviews :
Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Fredrik Backman 9781501196867 Books Reviews
- One. of my all time favorite books was Backman's A Man Called Ove so I expected to love this too but was very bored by it. Think it may have appeal to new parents - I am a grandparent and I had to force myself to finish it. It was very repetitive, for example at least twice in the Chapter "What You Need to Know About Being a Man" Backman says They say that sooner or later the majority of men turn into their fathers. But I hope that isn't true." An example of the humor in this book is, referring to his wife "I can easily think of a hundred people who would follow her blindly into a war. I can barely get people to follow me on Twitter."
It hardly every made me laugh out loud whereas A Man Called Ove made me both laugh and cry. I think it's a book for new parents as I've said before who think that their every action is going to have a lifelong influence on their amazing new babies.
Backman says at one point referring to a practical joke he has planned "Then it's quite possible that this whole idea was a
LITTLE bit funnier in theory than it was in practice. Let's suppose that." That could be said of this book as well. - Things My Son Needs to Know about the World is more a personal journal by Fredrik Backman to his son than intended for a general audience. His son will no doubt forgive him for his boring and pedestrian style. After the first few segments I found the book tedious. I would have expected a book like this to be a grand gesture from a dying man to his progeny but I don’t think this is the case (I certainly hope not).
Backman offers advice and anecdotes in short segments. The book can be picked up and put down or even read out of sequence. Some counsel made me laugh. Like “you spit on the napkin. Then you wipe the child’s face with the napkin. You don’t spit straight on the child. My badâ€. And there’s a recipe for fried Snicker’s ice cream.
The whole book is a loose collection of jots, notes and short accounts that I suspect Backman had in his writer’s journal but didn’t know what to do with them. If you’re looking for reading material that lives up to the quality of A Man Called Ove you’re going to be disappointed This is not a bad book just, in my estimation, a halfhearted attempt to meet a publishing commitment. - What do we know about Fredrik Backman? For most of us, only that he's a perceptive, intuitive author of highly readable novels, reliable in that each of those novels finds a path to the human heart that rings true. Last year, during a visit to a local bookstore, he revealed that the reason his younger and older characters are so vivid is that those are the ages he finds most honest. But bios have been, as is usually the case, quite stingy in revealing the man behind the artist.
Taking the form of short essays, this book outlines his life sometimes hilariously, in which anyone who's been a parent will smile and nod in recognition, and by addressing the pieces to his toddler son, he presents life lessons, spirituality, the importance of friends, and beautifully crafted shout outs to his wife. The results are revelatory, charming, and, like his novels, unexpected. - I am a slow reader and I read this book in a week. I found myself consistently entertained in each chapter. The chapters were short which is great for a slow reader but I couldn't put it down so I often read to chapters in an evening. He does a great job of turning every fatherly parenting experience in a humorous situation that helps us all realize as fathers we are not alone in these struggles. He expresses his desires for his son but then retracts, as we all do, to saying basically that they can choose what they want and we will still love them. This book is light hearted and funny. He even takes a situation where he got shot and turned it into an entertaining yet sentimental story. This is an excellent book but I think it would even be better as a stand up routine. My only complaint about this book is with the flow. While it is one of those books that you can pick up and start wherever you would like, he has these little humorous segments in between chapters that are funny but were probably put there because they really didn't fit in a particular chapter. Overall this is a stand up comedy routine in a book. I highly recommend you by this, read it, and share it with other fathers!
- *Sigh.*
I am one of Mr. Backman's biggest fans. Even those books of his that aren't my all-time favourites, still hold a special place on my bookshelf and in my soul. So it's very difficult for me to say that I did not like this book very much.
I really adore the concept of this book a collection of essays and other tidbits that Backman has written to his young son. Some of the anecdotes included within are certainly amusing. I really enjoyed the quick notes between the longer essays.
But I struggled with several of the essays. Some meandered on a bit long, and some got a bit too emphatic. At times I felt like I was stuck in an uncomfortable conversation with a friend of a friend of a friend where anything either of you says just gets taken the wrong way.
I'm fairly certain my lack of enjoyment in places had a lot more to do with the translation of this book than the original essays themselves. Some phrases were just very "off" or didn't really even make sense. I'm not sure if those were decisions made by the translator, or if this shorter material didn't lend itself as well to holistic translation as Backman's novels.
Regardless, I'm left trying to rate something that was, at best, hit and miss for me. And that's bitterly disappointing for me to say about one of my favourite authors. (
I would probably give this 2 stars, but the brief bits between essays were very charming and redeemed a lot, so my final verdict is 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a DRC of this book.
