I kept getting the feeling that I'd read this book before. I mean, granted, the subject (comedian writes book about being a parent) is not new - Bill Cosby, Paul Reiser, and I don't know who else have covered the topic in writing, and many other stand-up comedians use their children and their family life as the basis of their comedy. But I honestly felt like I'd read these particular jokes before. Either Gaffigan was recycling some of his stand-up material, or I have actually read this book. At any rate, my sister had this on her to-read list, so I figured it would be interesting to re-read the book from her viewpoint.
Gaffigan and his wife have five children and, to plagiarize Cosby, the reason they have five children is because they do not want six children. He also grew up in a large family. One of the best parts of the book is the chapter titled, "Six kids, Catholic", in which he relates that this was his standard response (and explanation) when people asked him about his large family; he uses the same response now when people ask him about his kids, but he said religion had nothing to do with him and his wife having so many kids. (wink, wink; nudge, nudge) A lot of the comedy in the book is based not only on their children, but the special problems involved with having such a large group of kids - outings to the park, family vacations, dwindling lists of babysitters. Because the family lives in a two-bedroom apartment in New York, even getting all the kids to bed at night is a major undertaking.
There were several laugh-out-loud moments, and quite a few chuckles, but overall I wasn't wowed by the book. One of the other reviewers said she listened to the audiobook, which Gaffigan himself narrated, and I think that would have been better; I really like Gaffigan's stand-up, and delivery is a big part of his comedy. But, like with a lot of other books written by comedians, this one left me feeling disappointed.
Kris
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