Make Way for Modern Dad

In "The Book of Dads" some of your favorite authors (Rick Bragg, Charles Baxter, Nick Flynn) describe how they raised their kids, thought about raising their kids and tried not to raise their kids the way their own fathers did. These involved and thoughtful dads share insights dark, deep, light and mesmerizing.

In one lovely essay, Anthony Doerr points out the difference between raising twins in the United States vs. in Italy: "In the States, practically every time someone would stop us on the street or in the grocery store, they'd gesture at the stroller and say, 'Twins? Bet you have your hands full.' . . . To be reminded of something you can't forget is debilitating."

"I prefer the Italian mothers," he writes, "who lean over the stroller and whisper, 'So beautiful.' . . . The old Roman who stopped us today outside the cemetery and grinned at Henry and Owen before shaking my hand and saying, with a half bow, 'Complimenti.' My compliments."

Other essays are very funny, as when Neal Pollack's son broke a toy at a store and he told the cashier he wanted to give his son a lesson in morality. "I turned to the counter guy. 'How much do I owe you?'

" 'Two bucks,' he said.

" 'Oh, thank God,' I said. I hate it when doing the right thing costs more than five bucks."

There's also a touching essay by Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transsexual with two sons who decided to call him Maddy. "That's like, half Mommy, and half Daddy," says Luke. "And anyhow, I know a girl at school named Maddy. She's pretty nice."

In another piece, Brandon R. Schrand tells a triumphant tale of overcoming alcoholism and moving away from the dark shadow of a deceased ex-con father to become a loving dad.

This entertaining and thoughtful collection will reassure fathers of all ages that they are, if nothing else, not alone.

Joyce is deputy editor of the Weekend section.