FATHERMUCKER is all kinds of funny—raucously, wickedly, sweetly, saucily, surprisingly, profanely funny. Greg Olear has written a wonderful novel, capturing in a single manic day the helpless ache of parenthood and the ceaseless flood of popular culture.
~ Jess Walter, National Book Award finalist and author of THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS and THE ZERO
Olear has written a whip-smart, hilarious, and deeply moving meditation on fatherhood and marriage. FATHERMUCKER should be required reading for stay-at-home parents.
~ Jonathan Evison, author of WEST OF HERE and ALL ABOUT LULU
In vivid Crayola yellow, Olear brilliantly highlights the bliss and pathos, fear, loathing and lusting of 21st-Century parenthood. Yet beneath the sippy cups, crumpled Happy Meal bags, and Mom Jeans intertwined with another dad’s sweatpants on the floor of this runaway minivan of a novel lies much more. FATHERMUCKER is nothing less than a moving and sneakily profound meditation on what it means to exist in these absurd and troubling times.
~ James P. Othmer, author of THE FUTURIST and HOLY WATER
I LOVE this book. Packed with fantastically spot-on parenting details, and so funny, I kept reading it out loud to everyone around me (Yes, even the kids. Let’s hope they don’t remember). I want my friends to read it so we can all talk about it. Greg Olear notices every modern parenting annoyance, fear, obsession, and worry. He must be a great dad!
~ Lenore Skenazy, author of the book and blog FREE RANGE KIDS
Josh Lansky is going to have one hell of a day. A screenwriter, fledgling freelancer and stay-at-home dad of two, Josh is drowning in a sea of earnest mommies feeding their precious offspring organic food and clothing them in natural fibers in the socially conscious New York suburb of New Paltz, when he finds out through the mommy gossip chain that his wife Stacy, away on a business trip, may or may not be cheating on him.
In Greg Olear’s divine new novel, FATHERMUCKER, he deftly skewers the politically correct contemporary parenting scene with deadpan humor, acerbic wit and empathy in a captivating voice reminiscent of Tom Perrotta and Nick Hornby. As Josh spends his day ferreting out information on his possibly wayward wife, he expounds on love, marriage and parenthood with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture.
Olear expertly weaves social satire with a delicate understanding of what it takes to love a child and how that love will make one man go to extraordinary lengths to save his family. FATHERMUCKER is a staggering achievement. A reflection on love, marriage and parenthood, so astoundingly honest, laugh-out-loud funny, and genuine, it will break your heart.
~ Robin Antalek, author of THE SUMMER WE FELL APART
Greg Olear has gathered up everything you’ve ever felt and packed it into FATHERMUCKER, his hilarious, brutal and ultimately sweet story of a stay-at-home-dad just trying to get through the day. Every page bursts with vivid details that make you want to say aloud, “Yes, that’s it! Exactly!” FATHERMUCKER is a book you can’t wait for you friends to read, too — an exhilarating and fearless celebration of life’s highs, lows and all the glorious in-betweens.
~ Maria Semple, author of THIS ONE IS MINE
Only a writer with the verve, daring and great talent of Greg Olear could pull off a novel that deals with sippy cups, masturbation, autism spectrum disorder, affairs, and playdates all at once. FATHERMUCKER is delightfully unexpected, wholly original, and a joy to read.
~ Jessica Anya Blau, author of THE SUMMER OF NAKED SWIM PARTIES and DRINKING CLOSER TO HOME
With candor and wit, Greg Olear takes the reader to the most uncomfortable truths of marriage and parenthood—and yet FATHERMUCKER oozes with vulnerability and love. I burst into tears several times while reading this novel, and was beyond moved by the anguished acceptance of young Roland’s autism. Compassionate, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny.
~ Susan Henderson, author of UP FROM THE BLUE
At the forefront of daddy lit, Greg Olear’s diary of a distressed househusband, FATHERMUCKER, sets the bar high. Funny, wise, sexy and crammed with pop culture references, his claustrophobic vision of contemporary parenting hits home.
~ Thelma Adams, author of PLAYDATE