Love, Dad
Confessions of an Anxious Father
'Love, Dad will ring true to different readers, and it has a lot to offer most of us, but most of all the dads we know and love.’
- Hannah Cartmel, Books and Publishing
Love, Dad: Confessions of an Anxious Father is the debut memoir from Laurie Steed. It follows his journey to the birth of his first child and beyond while nearly losing both parents.
Filled with heart, humour, and hope, Love, Dad looks at the wondrous things you find while losing your shit as an early parent. In the process, it says, ‘You’re OK,’ and ‘This is meant to be hard,’ letting parents know that their best is more than enough, and that the most important part of all of this is showing up and going again once you’ve changed the nappy, cuddled the bub, or let go of things you once thought so integral to your happiness and wellbeing.
Love, Dad will appeal to all parents thrust into the joyous, at times challenging and often comically absurd journey of parenthood, as well as readers of David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and William McInnes and followers of parenting influencers such as DadMum and The 40-Year-Old Dad. In style and genre, it is similar to Man Raises Boy by Rob Sturrock, and Kaz Cooke's Up The Duff, and adds a much-needed gentler take on why it matters that we’re kind, calm, and compassionate with our kids and ourselves.
‘‘That was such a good idea with the counting,’ says Annaya. ‘Where did you come up with that?’
And I could list every mistake that’s filed away in my mind. I could mention that these memories are stored not according to a timestamp but according to their emotional intensity. That to remember the good, or even adequate, is harder than to remember the catastrophic. That it is when we count them up that they so clearly outweigh the negative moments when we were small, silly, at fault, or embarrassing.
But I don’t say this. I say, ‘It worked well, didn’t it?’ counting upward in my mind, another pinprick on the side of okay.’
Praise for Love, Dad: Confessions of an Anxious Father
‘Love, Dad is a funny, heartfelt and authentic read, with a particular emphasis on male friendships and men’s mental health.’
Cheryl Akle, The Australian
FULL REVIEW
‘There were moments where I reacted physically to Love, Dad which is a mark of high-quality storytelling.’
Shannon Britza, Writing WA
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‘The only way to truly appreciate this beautiful, enlightening and insightful book is to read it..’
Jen Bowden, Westerly Magazine
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'Love, Dad will ring true to different readers, and it has a lot to offer most of us, but most of all the anxious dads we know and love.’
Hannah Cartmel, Books+Publishing
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‘Love, Dad is brave, honest, thoughtful and vulnerable: a memoir for the modern man. Personable and relatable and read-bits-aloud funny.’
Emma Young
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‘Steed has a turn of vernacular and a take on modern parenting that hitches up a reader’s smile.’
George Dunford, Arts Hub
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‘Lovingly celebrating the wild ride of parenthood.’
Sydney Morning Herald
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‘Memoir is hard to get right: in part, it needs to be able to speak to its audience – with subject matter that is not just about the autobiographer, but manages to be about the reader too. With Love, Dad, Laurie has found a way to address the tricky terrain of fatherhood and masculinity, of being a father, a son, and a son-in-law. It’s a funny, timely, arresting and moving exploration of late-millennial fatherhood.’
Georgia Richter, Publisher, Fremantle Press