Mike Birbiglia

This was an absolute delight to listen to. I was drawn to this book based on the blurb and several conversations I've had with my girlfriends about why seemingly happy relationships implode after the first or second child. Our best theory has been that most men simply have no clue how much their wives will change after birth. Sterling K. Brown has actually talked about this publicly and I was excited to hear what Mike Birbiglia would have to say about it.

I wish more men would talk about how show more neglected and alone they feel after watching their wives form this deep bond with a new human, as they see nearly all of her focus go toward someone else. Men need to be better prepared! Birbiglia didn't want children because he knew it would change his life. His wife naively told him that their lives wouldn't change. I don't think Birbiglia really believed her. But still, I see women today make the same mistake. They fantasize about being a different mom, a cool mom, a hot mom, a totally chill person who doesn't lose any part of her identity to motherhood. But, a mom is a mom and no woman can know exactly who she'll be after she's been flooded with the hormones that come with birth.

It's a really hard transition and I do think it can be hard for men as well because they're not physically attached, they're not getting the hormone boost that refocuses a woman's attention. This book really explains how Birbiglia and his wife dealt with the transition with love and humor and honesty. His wife's poetry interspersed with all of Birbiglia's comedic writing is so beautiful as is her voice and in a way the back and forth between them is its own love story. Super beautiful book. I borrowed this on a whim from the library and am excited to pick up a physical copy for my bookshelves. ( show less

(17) With humor and honesty, Birbiglia unpacks how he traversed from bachelorhood to devoted I'll-be-your-spouse-but-never-a-parent and then into the awkward first months of bringing home a baby. While being honest about the challenges he faced entering fatherhood, particularly against a backdrop of his itinerant career and a lifetime of severe illnesses, he shows the gradual path from feeling like being his family's extra appendage to embracing parenthood wholeheartedly and with his show more trademark wit. Highly recommended. show less

The New One

I Picked Up This Book Because: I’ve enjoyed the author’s comedic works.

This is a work primarily about how life changes after you have a child. The journey this couple goes through from maybe we don’t want a family to we do want a kid to we have a kid, now what. It is very open, honest and relatable. Interspersed with poetry from Mike’s partner that is some of the most raw human emotions I’ve ever listened to. I’d recommend this to anyone ambivalent about having a show more child, anyone who doesn’t want a child and any parents whose baby doesn’t sleep. So, basically everyone.

Mike is also in love with his couch and his wife shows a maybe unhealthy obsession with fish.

The Random Thoughts:

4 Stars show less

I love Mike Birbiglia. I love this book. I'd heard some of these stories on The Moth and This American Life, but they're even more rich in print because he layers moments from each previous story into the next. Maybe it helps that I heard his voice in my head while I read, but this is one of the best memoirs I've read in awhile. Like fun it is.