Fatherhood is in the crosshairs of America’s culture wars, with debates over masculinity and gender roles fueling social divisions. PW spoke with authors whose forthcoming books wrestle with the complexities of being and having a dad.
Aymann Ismail, a journalist, documentarian, and podcaster, had been searching for a memoir “that spoke to the experiences of fathers of color who carry a cultural inheritance” and that reflected his life as an Arab American and Muslim American, he says. He couldn’t find it, so he wrote it. Becoming Baba (Doubleday, July) tells the “complicated and intimate story about what it’s like to be a father as a Muslim person in America, especially in Trump’s America,” he explains. “I want Muslim readers to walk away with a road map for how to understand their own sense of belonging; I hope that non-Muslim readers see Muslim fatherhood in a very human way.”
The book also engages with current debates around men, fatherhood, and masculinity. “It asks, Why does this generation of fathers feel so much pressure to be the perfect father?” Ismail says. “We’re in a moment where new narratives about fatherhood are materializing. I’m trying to answer that question for myself in the hopes of answering that question for others.”
Historian Augustine Sedgewick says he was motivated to write Fatherhood (Scribner, May) as a way to connect with his father and toddler son. The book illuminates the parental lives of famous men of occidental civilization, such as Aristotle, Henry VIII, and Charles Darwin, and draws on feminist theory, including Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born. “When I say that I’m writing a book about the history of fatherhood, people respond very strongly,” he says. “It’s because of where we are as a society. It’s very hard for people to connect with the men in their lives.”
Writing the book was revelatory for Sedgewick, because the expectations for and about fathers have evolved over time. “I’ve given up on the idea that there’s a single set of standards that I have to meet as a father,” he says. “I listen, I think about what my father and son need from me, and how I can accompany them where they are, irrespective of whatever I think a father or son should be. And that’s allowed me to be more present with them.”
What My Father and I Don’t Talk About (Simon & Schuster, May), edited by Michele Filgate, is a companion to 2019’s What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About. The anthology features 16 writers on a range of topics: Dylan Landis writes about her father’s last days; Susan Muaddi Darraj explores the spaces between immigrant fathers and their daughters; and Nayomi Munaweera, who published an essay in the first volume, returns to write about the ripple effects of her parents’ arranged marriage, now considering her father’s perspective. “Most entries are more unflinching than feel-good,” according to PW’s review, and “there’s no denying their poignancy and power.”
That’s by design, according to Filgate. “We’ve seen many superficial portrayals of fathers in sitcoms; the phrase ‘daddy issues’ has been around for forever,” she says. “It’s all so shallow—fatherhood is so much more.”
This article has been updated to clarify Augustine Sedgewick's relationship with his father.
