Review: Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern

OK, so bear with me. I know this came out quite awhile ago, and I'm behind the curve. If you are familiar with this blog at all, you know I just finished grad school, meaning I have been stressed out of my mind lately. I was looking for something to help me relax and ease back into real life, saw Halpern's book, and thought I'd give it a try. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I didn't see the TV show based on this book, and I had thought it sounded a little stupid at the time. All I really knew was that it's based on the author's Twitter feed of the same name. While I still don't know how anyone thought this would translate into a weekly sitcom, I have to tell you, Sh*t My Dad Says - the book version - is actually really, really funny.

The book itself is more grouped by general topic rather than set into regular chapters, although it is organized into loose chapters as well. Each chapter begins with a longer story, such as the one that opens the book that details a family car trip to a wedding 1800 miles away, and then follows the story with several shorter anecdotes that have their own headings. These shorter bits don't seem to me to have any particular rhyme or reason as to why they are placed where they are, but it doesn't really matter because they are all stand-alone items anyway.

In truth, most of what Halpern's dad says is funny because he's extremely blunt, outspoken, and obscene. If his sentences were sandwiches, curses would be the bread, meat, and cheese. Somehow, though, it's not offensive. I'm not against swearing, heaven knows, but neither do I like it just for the sake of itself, and I don't find movies or songs that use that as a strategy appealing (for instance, the uncut version of Hollaback Girl - seriously, Gwen Stefani?). This doesn't venture into that realm. It kind of makes me think of what the dad from The Wonder Years, crossed with the dad from A Christmas Story, would have said if the censors allowed it. Halpern is careful to mitigate his dad's roughness with an obvious love and respect, and makes sure the reader understands the bond the two have; without this the stories might be a bit hard to swallow at times. The key here is that we are always aware that we are laughing *with* Halpern and his father, and not *at* them. I actually laughed out loud several times.

I do have some questions about the truthfulness of the book, such as how the author recreated all of these stories word for word, especially those from his childhood. Even if he asked other people in his life to help him, it seems unlikely to me that at least some of this stuff isn't embellished. That being said, I'm not sure it really matters all that much. Would I be disappointed to find out that this was yet another made-up life story? Sure, but it's not like this book will be up for some kind of major award, or selected for a book club based on the merits of some major cultural contribution. SMDS is just a short, lighthearted read for adults who want to take a break from the mean-spiritedness that often passes as comedy and enjoy a laugh with the author and his father. In fact, as long as your dad doesn't mind near-constant swearing, it would make a good Father's Day gift.

Rating: four stars out of five. A short, very funny read with none of the mean-spiritedness so common in today's tell-all culture.