Once upon a time, long, long ago, people used to argue about politics. Now they argue about parenting. Thirty-five years ago, the issue that defined a generation was whether American troops should be in Vietnam. Today, it’s whether to follow the advice set out in The Contented Little Baby Book. Defend the war on Iraq at a dinner party and your neighbour will barely raise an eyebrow, but dare to suggest that Gina Ford is a good thing and the room will immediately divide into two warring camps.
As the parent of a one-year-old, I naturally feel quite strongly about some of these issues and I sat down to read Fatherhood, Marcus Berkmann’s new book, with a warm glow of anticipation. Most baby books are humourless how-to manuals written by po-faced American women with doctorates in child psychology, but this one promised to be different. Berkmann is The Spectator’s in-house pop critic, not to mention the author of a highly acclaimed book on cricket. He’s a funny writer, sometimes a very funny writer. At last, I thought, a baby book I won’t be tempted to hurl across the room by the time I’ve read the acknowledgments.
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