i don't believe this has been mentioned in a different thread, but if it has, my bad.

Sadly, not a lot of AlternaDad love in today's Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601621.html

I can't go on I must go on. We shall all endure the playa-hating. Together.

Gopnik misses the point. Alternadad is not high art; it is low comedy. He expects too much and, consequently, is disappointed when the book goes on and on about various mundane episodes involved in childrearing. The irony at the heart of Alternadad is that raising a child isn't comedy or play, it's work, just as so many "homemakers" will tell you. And work is generally drudgery. That drudgery can be an ironic background for play, like BBC's The Office. And "Neal Pollack" is David Brent.

Are you having a laff? Is he having a laff? Thanks, Bud. You should write the Post and say the same thing...

I sent Gopnik and e-mail to suggest he spend more time getting to know Ricky Gervais. I also told him he reasons like a Gum Spudlet. Well, not that last part, even though it's true.

OK, so the guy read your book and didn't find it interesting. I've written reviews -- surely not for any publication as august was the Washington Post -- and you know what they all had in common? I liked the thing I was reviewing. If I don't have to share every thought in my head, does a reviewer have to share his thoughts on everything he's read? Maybe it's just me.

While in no way defending the WaPo (those cats hate everything, it seems), as someone who does music reviews, i have to admit, there's something oddly satisfying about trashing something that you think stinks.

Of course, if we were better writers, we'd probably be doing more than just reviews, but what can you do?