No Wonder My Parents Drank: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad
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Overview
YOU’LL NEVER SLEEP IN THIS TOWN AGAIN
From Saturday Night Live to stand-up, from a blockbuster film career to the star of CBS’s hit television show Gary Unmarried, Jay Mohr is one of the funniest people in comedy today. Now, in this down and dirty tale of modern fatherhood, Mohr shares his stories as a first-time parent.
No Wonder My Parents Drank reveals the details behind Mohr’s humiliating test-tube conception attempts and then recounts the trauma of not only having to keep this child alive, but having to spend time alone with him! He waxes poetic about dirty diapers; spins theories on spanking; and mulls over the more hidden advantages of parenthood, like carpool lane access, carte blanche to use the ladies restroom, and an alibi for missing family dinners. Mohr describes, in painfully funny detail, the bizarre situations that all parents inevitably face but can never prepare for (such as when his kid discovered his dog’s rear end) as well as moments of pure joy like taking his son to his first baseball game.
Mohr reports on the hilarious wisdom that his son, Jackson, has taught him—like why it’s fun to play "Kissy Boy" with the other boys at recess, how important sunscreen is for avoiding a "sunborn," and how awesome it is to get a "rainbow belt" in karate.
Riotously acerbic and refreshingly honest, No Wonder My Parents Drank casts the very funny Jay Mohr with an even funnier mini-me sidekick as a supporting character in a little comedic love story that every person who either is a parent or has a parent will find delightful.
Synopsis
YOU’LL NEVER SLEEP IN THIS TOWN AGAINFrom Saturday Night Live to stand-up, from a blockbuster film career to the star of CBS’s hit television show Gary Unmarried, Jay Mohr is one of the funniest people in comedy today. Now, in this down and dirty tale of modern fatherhood, Mohr shares his stories as a first-time parent. No Wonder My Parents Drank reveals the details behind Mohr’s humiliating test-tube conception attempts and then recounts the trauma of not only having to keep this child alive, but having to spend time alone with him! He waxes poetic about dirty diapers; spins theories on spanking; and mulls over the more hidden advantages of parenthood, like carpool lane access, carte blanche to use the ladies restroom, and an alibi for missing family dinners. Mohr describes, in painfully funny detail, the bizarre situations that all parents inevitably face but can never prepare for (such as when his kid discovered his dog’s rear end) as well as moments of pure joy like taking his son to his first baseball game. Mohr reports on the hilarious wisdom that his son, Jackson, has taught him—like why it’s fun to play "Kissy Boy" with the other boys at recess, how important sunscreen is for avoiding a "sunborn," and how awesome it is to get a "rainbow belt" in karate.
Riotously acerbic and refreshingly honest, No Wonder My Parents Drank casts the very funny Jay Mohr with an even funnier mini-me sidekick as a supporting character in a little comedic love story that every person who either is a parent or has a parent will find delightful.
The Washington Post - Michael Lindgren
In his unsubtle way, [Mohr] has sincere and perceptive things to say about the rewards of fatherhood. That said, on a certain level the only objective way to evaluate this kind of book is to meter how frequently it produces, by fair means and foul, audible laughter. Judged this way, No Wonder My Parents Drank is masterly…
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Jay Mohr is prodigiously versatile. As an actor, he's been Tom Cruise's rival sports agent in Jerry Maguire; a love-struck videographer in Picture Perfect; a professor in Ghost Whisperer. As a comedian, he's been a stand-up monologist; a Saturday Night Live impersonator; and the star of the just-renewed comedy, Gary Unmarried. When not indulging his talents elsewhere, Mohr keeps busy hosting Last Comic Standing (which he created) and—not least, parenting. No Wonder My Parents Drank demonstrates definitively that of all the aforementioned activities, raising kids is the most challenging and the most funny. Move over, Jenny McCarthy.
From the Publisher
“[Mohr] has sincere and perceptive things to say about the rewards of fatherhood. . . . [and] is unabashed about his love for his son and the ways that being a parent has made him a better person.”—Washington Post
“The wisdom [Mohr] learned on the job being a new father is served up with insight and wit in his wonderfully candid new book.”
—Tucson Citizen
Michael Lindgren
In his unsubtle way, [Mohr] has sincere and perceptive things to say about the rewards of fatherhood. That said, on a certain level the only objective way to evaluate this kind of book is to meter how frequently it produces, by fair means and foul, audible laughter. Judged this way, No Wonder My Parents Drank is masterly…—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Longtime comedian Mohr, formerly of Saturday Night Live and currently executive producer/host of NBC's Last Comic Standing, knows how to be funny, but was as clueless as anyone else when it came to parenthood: "one of the shitty parts" of parenthood is that "there aren't any do-overs. You learn on the fly and do the best you can." Even so, Mohr makes it abundantly clear that, despite some mistakes, he has enjoyed every minute of being a parent to his son, Jackson, and he mines it here for comedy gold. Mohr's dead-on insights and sharp observations ring true regarding serious issues like spanking and step-parenting, as well as lighter subjects like his son's first haircut. Mohr also finds pointed humor in unhappy topics, like his attempt to have another child with his second wife; he's more than candid about his lousy swimmers. Mohr's stand-up sensibility is occasionally trumped by his love for his son, but even then he stays honest and engaging: "As he grows, my heart sinks. The less he needs me, the more I need him."Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.