Review: The Wizard behind the curtain
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 15, 2012
I could not resist the topic of stay-at-home dads.  With no preconceived notions, I was wide open to the subject.  These families made their choices based on finances, what was best for the children, or both.  After that, each essay was a surprise package.  Some of the men seemed happier and others seemed more frustrated.  There were issues of the definitions of manhood, societies' perceptions of men accompanied by children, and frustrations over the lack of common role models for others, with television dads looking like helpless idiots.  I felt that all these men made their cases clearly.In addition to merely stating their good and bad feelings, these essays are well-written and from different parts of the English speaking world.  The universal themes were greater than just "dads at home."  There were nice dads, funny dads, and overwhelmed dads.The book is short; I wished for perhaps one or two more essays.  I thought that the editor's (also a contributor) choice of essay order flowed very well.A pinprick for this book is that I felt a dimension was missing.  I think it would have enhanced the studies if the wives had been able to write one- or two-paragraph addenda to each essay, giving them more of a "family" feel.  Except for one man who was divorced, I felt a weakness was that true partnerships of husband and wife got some, but not much, attention.I received this book for free in order to review it on behalf of The Kindle Book Review website, [...]-- Java Davis (The Kindle Book Review)