Book Review: Things My Son Needs to Know About the World

Being a mother of boys, this title stands out, but the author name stands out even more. I loved Fredrik Backman's bestseller A Man Called Ove. This book, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, provides a lighthearted look at parenting. Given the fact that Backman's son is a mere toddler, he's not far enough into the process to offer extensive advice on the heavy topics of parenting teenagers (please tell me we'll all survive this), but he brought me back to those sleepless nights of the early years.

At times the book was laugh-out-loud funny. My favorite chapter was a brief one called "Why It's Not Worth Arguing With Your Mother." The volley action is hilarious. Each paragraph begins with "I wonder ...," "Your mother wonders ...," "I wonder...," and so on, until the conclusion answers all doubts, as mother wins. Backman is a consummate storyteller. I could not begin to tell whether all the details were factual, but he spins a good yarn regardless. Tucked in among the bits of humor, Backman laces plenty of truthful observation about life. I still much prefer his fiction, but this was a gentle little jaunt into the author's mind.