Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century Parenthood

Two parents squirm their way into contemporary American adulthood in this hilarious and heartfelt account. Deadspin and GQ columnist Magary (The Postmortal) writes with his usual panache and en-dearing vulgarity on a variety of stories about his nuclear family, but never shies away from a tender moment. Whether he is correcting his children's pizza-making abilities or teaching them the sheer joys of "petty vandalism", Magary and his wife puzzle out the complexities and nuances of parenthood. The volume is bookended by the tale of the youngest son%E2%80%94who requires "disemboweling" due to a rare condition%E2%80%94and the fragility and beauty of life is underscored by the honest and endearing anec-dotes throughout. Realizing that "baby helmets are a rotten lie" even after cracking his daughter's head against a doorframe in a daycare center, Magary gets to the story's core: what is required of these young parents is not an ultra-conservative, over-protective approach, or even one that allows kids to "do as many things on their own as humanly possible." The crux of their care-giving is altruism and providing genuine love, even if that care comes from an individual dressed as "a slow guy", drinking while trick-or-treating with his children: vulgar parenting at its best. (May)