Daddy, Stop Talking! By Adam Carolla

Synopsis: Parenting testimonies from a celebrated comedian and Guinness World Record for most downloaded podcasts.

Writing Style: Candid Satire. Tongue-n-Cheek ‘Commercial’ humor. Blog Style.

Pacing: Fast.

Personal Highlights: First off, prior to purchasing this book I didn’t know the Guinness World Book holder… but asked my kids (who are no longer kids) if they heard of Adam. Of course, everybody knows this celebrity, but me! At any rate, I came across this book online and instantly thought of the fabulously humorous dad memoirs I’ve read; Sh*t My Dads say, I Didn’t Ask to be Born, Kitchen Sink Papers, Crawling… and knew this one was likely to be some more funny, which I desperately needed. Spoiler alert, I was not disappointed. 

I fell right in step with the copious storytelling, beginning with dad making it clear that if daddy stopped talking, some very fortunate kids might not have been/be as fortunate.

Other favorites; Reading the dinosaur books to his children… and reading children’s books in general. ‘The vegetarian Cheetah.’ ‘Kids sexual identities summed up in a sentence… and two discerning words. Hollywood WHY?’ And here’s one word. ‘IKEA.’ Oh, I howled! …Like ‘redefining male beauty.’ …Along with that grooming spiel, as in ‘guy in barber chair.’ Gosh, I cried. And burst out laughing on the ‘underwear model’, and good Lordy… those t-shirts!  I think every other sentence I was laughing out loud. Real loud! 

But then, too, there were a number points of reflection, like his parents and their relationship, which I found quite relatable. Won’t go into a long monologue on that chapter since dad perfectly encapsulated how parenting in the yonder-years (for many) over-corrected what society has turned parenting into today. Thought provoking…and for sure joins my other keepers.  Read Daddy, Stop Talking in a day! Highly recommended. Read hardback 2015 copyright edition.