Sh*t My Dad Says - Review

Justin Halpern is a fairly typical Gen-X guy. He's an aspiring screenwriter, comedy blogger and cartoonist who in his late 20s, moved back in with his parents following the break up of a relationship.

Normally, such a return to the parental abode would be a recipe for disaster, low self-esteem and depression, but Halpern mined the opportunity for the unadulterated gold you find in Sh*t My Dad Says– which began life as a Twitter feed (currently with 1,484,431 followers) and has evolved into a warm and genuinely hilarious memoir about the relationship between Halpern and his father. It is peppered a collection of the caustic, wise and witty gems of Mr Halpern Snr.

While Halpern could easily, it seems, have simply published a collection of random proclamations – without context, they remain very funny. However his decision to devote each chapter to a defining point in his relationship with his dad puts it a cut above the average comedy quote-collection. Each memory is poignant, funny, embarrassing or heart-warming, as Halpern Jnr grows from a slightly awkward and nerdy kid into a slightly less awkward and nerdy man, learning about women, work, fairness and above all, what you can reasonably expect from life and others.

This is a book to power through in a few days, and later, to open at random for a chuckle. The combination of blatant honesty, a terrible potty mouth, unconventional wisdom and unconditional love from Sam Halpern is a totally unique voice, and neatly captured. You wish your dad were this cool.

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