Thursday, June 10, 2010

New Release: What Would Rob Do?

The sign of a good book is when you can enjoy it even when you aren't exactly the target audience.  Even though Rob Sachs' book of reminiscences and advice seems targeted toward the college to first-time-father aged male, I found myself nodding in recognition at many of his experiences.  He's obviously the same age as I am.  We've shared the joys of 80s hair bands, mix tapes and The Brat Pack.  But luckily, I have never embarrassed my significant other during a karaoke SNAFU or had to pee in public.

Rob began What Would Rob Do? as an NPR podcast.  He thought of embarrassing, awkward and unique situations and then talked to friends, family and "experts" about the proper actions in each situation.  The book is a collection of these brief discussions that include Rob's own experiences.  The book has a great flow and is funny.  It's heavier on anecdotes than advice but I don't think that's a fault.

There is a wide variety of topics covered from dog poop on your shoe to bargaining at a flea market.  And the range of experts is fantastic -- Erik Estrada, rock band Air Supply and the one and only Fabio, just to name a few.  So when you get a warning instead of a ticket and when you get to eat the best food at the Vegas buffet, you can thank Rob.  Personally, I've been inspired to come up with a catchphrase.  I'll work on it a bit before inflicting it on you, though!

This would make a great Father's Day or graduation gift (along with a check, of course!).  I am going to be mailing my copy off to my brother, Brian, because I think he will love this book.

Sharing life's indignities with the rest of the population,
K


Support our site and buy What Would Rob Do: An Irreverent Guide to Surviving Life's Daily Indignities on Amazon or find it at your local library. We received a review copy from a publicist.

3 comments:

  1. This sounds pretty fun -- might be a good gift for my girls to give their dad for Father's Day. I think anecdotes provide their own advice, by the way -- you can think about how you yourself would handle such a situation! For some reason the description is putting me in mind of a fun book, The Instant by Merih Turkdogan, about the last second of Herr Zimmermann's life. During that last moment of his life he meets any number of people, including William Shakespeare and is showered by "what-if" questions he never bothered to ask during his lifetime, like "what if the past is the future and the future is the past." It's a very interesting book! And a one-second death is actually much, much longer than you think...

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  2. Oh ... I love the idea of this book. It sounds right up my alley ... and I'm not the target demographic either!

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  3. Liz - That one sounds interesting too! Thanks for the recommendation.

    Jenners - I think you would like it too!

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