More Book Reviews: The Dude's Guide to Pregnancy

OK, so this is turning out to be book review month around here. In addition to getting Opting In in the mail, I also received "The Dude's Guide to Pregnancy." I'm sure both books may be shelved in the area of the bookstore, but it's hard to imagine two more different tomes.

"Dude" is so bad, so confused in its focus, that I have to post about it. It contains these nuggets of truly useful, interesting information that most guys don't learn until they're in the thick of the process, but those points are surrounded by such vulgar and sophomoric stuff that it is difficult to tell if the authors seriously want to inform men about pregnancy or if they're just in it for the sex jokes.

But bad writing about fatherhood (or, in this case, prospective fatherhood) always has a silver lining. Somewhere out there, a book editor read "Dude" and concluded that there is a meaningful market for a book that tries to speak directly to dads. That's progress. I think.

(If you're in the market for books about new fatherhood that can be honest, funny and engaging without insulting your intelligence, I still think "Pop Culture" and "Be Prepared" are worth the investment.)