The Daddy Diaries

by Joshua Braff

Jay and Jackie uproot their family of four from San Francisco after Jackie loses her job but finds a lucrative new one in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jay, a one-time copywriter and aspiring author, now plays househusband, caring for his troubled thirteen-year-old son and precocious daughter as they adjust to their new life. As his children begin to assert their independence, Jay realizes that the challenges of child rearing are only going to grow more difficult in the teen years. Through a series of misadventures and run-ins with his narcissistic older brother, his lunatic childhood friend, and his increasingly estranged but beloved son, Jay learns that he must tap his own vulnerabilities if he is to be the rock of stability his family so desperately needs.

Overflowing with pathos and humor, The Daddy Diaries is a memorable take on contemporary fatherhood and a clear-sighted look at how the upending of traditional marital roles can affect the delicate balance of familial love. In his third and best novel to date, Joshua Braff vividly evokes the unpredictable dance that families do, and captures how they similarly ebb and flow.

“At last! A deeply felt, deeply thoughtful book about men who caretake, wives who provide and kids making their way in a weird new world. Braff deftly knocks aside tired old stereotypes and introduces us to flawed and funny people doing their best to lead authentic lives. Smart, soulful and even, dare I say it, Important.” — Christopher Noxon, author of Plus One

“Honest and heartfelt, Joshua Braff’s novel about the perils of 21st century fatherhood contains more moments of truth than several hundred bestselling memoirs or self-help books. The wry humor and compulsive readability may remind readers of Jonathan Tropper or Nick Hornby, but the hard-won wisdom and disarming vulnerability in The Daddy Diaries is all Braff’s own.” — Adam Langer, author of The Thieves of Manhattan