Jim Gaffigan’s new book, Dad is Fat, should come with a warning label: “Use caution while reading this book. It may cause you to want more kids.”
The popular stand-up comedian best known for his obsession with Hot Pockets is a father five times over. Living with five kids in a two-bedroom NYC apartment should drive most people insane, but Gaffigan seems almost too happy in his unhappiness.
He talks about troubling issues with his kids, many I can relate to, yet he makes them sound uproariously funny. Gaffigan makes you think that if you can laugh about the madness that kids bring then you should have more kids so you’ll never stop laughing.
(My wife also read the book, and all the talking about babies gave her ideas. She doesn’t need any more ideas. We have three kids already and twins run in the family. I don’t think I could function as well as Gaffigan does.)
Amid the humor, Gaffigan drops a few serious gems. In response to being accused of being anti-family because of his sarcastic comments, he wrote, “If you complain about how you spend your Saturdays taking your kids to birthday parties that means you’re taking your kids to birthday parties. If you complain about how hard it is to get your kids to read, it means you are trying to get your kids to read. … You joke about it. That’s how you deal. If parents don’t like being a parent, they don’t talk about being a parent. They are absent.”
I will now use that whenever people complain that I’m complaining too much.
I enjoyed reading his book and you will, too, unless you don’t have kids. In that case, you will probably think he is complaining too much.
But at least you’ll have Hot Pockets to laugh about.
Leave a Reply