Author(s): Paul Connolly

Anthologies

The shape of the family tree has changed irrevocably in recent decades, and there is hardly such a thing as a 'typical dad' anymore (though dad jokes, like cockroaches, never seem to die). From the grim archetype of the emotionally distant father, to the bumbling man-child who's only a pair of underpants away from being an ape and the sensitive-new-age man with a pram, there has never been more freedom for men to choose what sort of dad they want to be. Or, for that matter, so many opportunities to stuff it up! In Father Figures, twenty of Australia's brightest and funniest writers share the joys, hazards and mysteries of fatherhood and how we all relate to 'dad'.