Jim Lindberg-Punk Rock Dad
Harper Collins
May 1, 2007

Our society has a very strange way of looking at celebrities or public figures. We see them on telelvision, read about them in the paper or listen to their music so much that they don't seem like real people. They become almost fictional characters that were created for our own personal entertainment, and the fact that they also lead normal lives is damn near absurd. Part of this could be because we don't know all that much about their lives, and the other part could be because we don't think of them as much more than dolls we take off the shelf when we need a pick me up. This is just my humble opinion, but I would have never expected to read about a singer of a prominent and influential punk band buying rectal thermometers and hair dye to cover up the grays.

Jim Lindberg tells in detail about what its like to be a dad while still holding on to punk rock sensibility. This book is a sort of "How to Raise Kids," though not in a preachy way. He doesn't pretend to have all (or many) of the answers, but he does make his points via real life storytelling experience, and some the them are quite entertaining, to the point that it becomes hard to put down. He tells everything so honestly, and he isn't afraid to poke fun at himself or make himself look silly, or even admit to his mistakes.

It seems like Lindberg is clinging to his punk rock credibility in this book. With titles that are lines from or names of old punk songs, and his constant mention of his punk rock past and present, its asif he's trying to let his fans know that he hasn't gone soft (or old), no matter how hard it was for him to get his kids to bed the night of a show, or how much puke from his daughter he had to clean up after. Through it all, he always seems like the proud dad would can't say enough about his kids, someone who wouldn't trade his fatherhood in for anything.

This is a very quick, easy and fun book to read. Lindberg has a very casual, conversational writing style, which gives this book an intimate look at him. My only complaint would be taht it seems to jump around, making it sometimes hard to figure out how old the kids (who he doesn't mention by name, only number) are at the time of the antecdotes. This doesn't really matter that much, as it takes nothing away from Punk Rock Dad's entertainment value.

Written by: RF
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