Things My Son Needs to Know About the World - Fredrik Backman - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Fredrik Backman

TRANSLATOR: Alice Menzies

GENRE: Parenting, Nonfiction.

PUBLICATION DATE: August 27, 2012.

RATING: 3.5 stars.

There are so many books about mothers, by mothers, for mothers. But the same figure when it comes to books about/by/for fathers is pitifully low. So I decided that on Father's day, I'll pick up a book by a father, to get more insight into the male mind about parenting. Did it work? I'm not sure. The male mind seems to have different properties than the female mind when it comes to parenting. 😄

"Things My Son Needs to Know about the World" begins well enough. Backman has humour in ample amount and he uses that to his full advantage in this book. Most of the chapters are replete with funny sentences, humorous situations and realistic quandaries about parenting. But sometimes, the jest seems a bit too forced. It was like Backman was desperate to sound like a cool dad and in the process, he overdid it. Yet, I feel it is a good enough attempt for a debut nonfiction.

One thing I was surprised to discover was that Backman is married to a Tehrani woman. This made me wonder if Parvaneh from A Man Called Ove was based on his wife. If yes, it is a beautiful dedication because this book makes his wife seem extremely lovable. Backman himself seems to have many qualities of Ove. In fact, he uses a variation of my favourite quote from Ove to talk about his wife: "I’m blunt and sharp and full of black and white. She’s all my color."

Go for this book if you want a lighthearted book. It isn't a must-read, but picking it up won't do you any harm either. If you are a Backman fan, then the book gives you a great insight into his personality.

Some nice quotes from the book:

"I know all kids sooner or later reach a point in their lives where they realize their dads aren’t actually superheroes. I’m not stupid. I just wish for it to take as long as possible."

"Most people are not looking for special treatment, most people don’t want everything to be the same for everyone, most people just want things to be FAIR for everyone."

"Sometimes the strongest person isn’t the one who hits. It’s the one who doesn’t hit back."