Sean French

Good writing and characterisation but strange - and seemingly pointless - construction. We have separate perspectives on the family from the viewpoints of the three protagonists - husband Henry, wife Lori, son Horace. The cover blurb promises 'sexual awakening, betrayal, depravity, inextinguishable hope' but we see only glimpses of such things through the thought processes of each player in this disfunctional family. Perhaps we are to believe - perhaps the author believes - that all families show more are like this; fortunately not! show less

Almost a slef-indulgent exercise in thoughts on writing, this book is not helpful to those wishing to "learn" techniques that can be applied to fiction writing. However, having said that, it is a very good resource for those wishing to tackle moderately difficult romanctic, realistic, modern, and postmodern works of literature with informal essays by respected authors.

One of the unintended negative impact of feminism is that male behaviour including fatherhood can become seen as valid only when it replicates female behaviour rather then focusing on what is different and unique on male childrearing. These essays are about that debate

This collection, the response from poets, journalists and novelists, is an exploration of the subject of fathering. Alan Brien, Owen Dudley Edwards, Laurie Flynn, Tim Hilton, Alan Jenkins, Hugo Williams, Roger Scruton and Ernest Jones are some of the authors who contributed to this book.