Alternadad: The True Story of One Family’s Struggle to Raise a Cool Kid in America

Summary

In Alternadad, Neal Pollack offers a wonderfully candid account of his and his wife's attempt to bring up their son while still having fun and preserving their attachment to youth culture. For Pollack, this means bringing the boy to music festivals and teaching him about the history of rock and roll, and nothing brings joy to his heart like hearing his son say he wants to listen to the Ramones. It means having posters of Johnny Cash and not of Wilco, or learning that Baby Bear is a terrible show while Sesame Street rocks. It means teaching your son to be irreverent without being a bad kid. In the end, Alternadad is about learning to be a responsible parent who can also teach his son how to mosh. It also just might become the parenting bible for a new generation of parents trying to raise their kids in an increasingly homogenized and uptight culture.