reviews-sons

…a remarkable non-fiction book on the subject [of fathers and sons].  This fine collection of 77 short essays and poems is a literary rather than cinematic search …

Authors from a variety of backgrounds, most parents themselves, grapple with recurring themes when they write about their own fathers: Trying to meet a father’s expectations. Learning not to touch one’s father affectionately, replacing hugs and kisses with manly handshakes. Competing with one’s father, especially in sports. Trying to accomplish what one’s father couldn’t, either …

A collection of short memoirs in prose and poetry of various sons about their fathers. Some of the memories are positive, some negative, others a bit of both. Among the better-known contributors are Jimmy Carter, Lewis Grizzard, James Dickey, John Cheever, Bill Moyers, Lance Morrow, and Robert Bly, but those of lesser-known writers are often …

An important collection.

[A] moving collection of essays, short stories and poetry by 75 men. … Tears of lost opportunities run through this collection, because the sons’ words were often written after the fathers died.

A wonderful book that would make any day in the year a tribute to Dad. Keyes’s selections of prose and poetry, memoirs and fiction began as a labor of love motivated by his feeling about his father but continued because he came to realize that the deep feelings and pent-up emotions of the writers contributed …