Rating: 
Summary: The Emergency is the father's role before the divorce
Review: I need to tell all you who claim your children were "legally kidnapped" to remember who was the primary caregiver and had the main role of raising your child before the separation and divorce, the mother. The generalization can't be made that most men have to pay unrealistic amounts of child support and alimony when child support doesn't equate to the sacrifice and life altering nature raising a child alone involves, there is no price on that. In many cases men are not stripped of their life by having to pay alimony and child support, and some don't even make enough money to have to pay a lot anyway. My parents divorced when I was 16 and my siblings were 11 and 4,and my father tried to played the victim and claimed that the court is anti-fathers and so on; and reading this book out of curiosity made this even more of a sad reality when it was my mother that had to bear the burden all those years by putting her life on hold while her ex-husband (my father) got to spend 80+ hours a week "at work", having countless affairs, and emotionally and verbally abused my mother when she gave up her life to raise her family and stay in marriage as long as she could for her kids sake. Yes, it may be women who initiate divorce the majority of the time, but maybe you guys should be asking yourselves why and to what degree did your children have to sacrifice for what you brought to the table. Of course my father wouldn't initiate the divorce, his life was just the way he wanted it to be. When I find a woman to marry I will know what mistakes not to make an play and equal role in my children's lives by putting their needs first, unlike many fathers including my own.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read for all fathers and husbands
Review: I only wish I had read this book 11 months ago when my wife had planned her divorce from me and got an advantage from the begining. I was a happy father with three beautiful children and was evicted from my home overnight. Thanks to Robert Seidenberg, he could have gave me a play by play move about my forced separation. I could relate to this book so much it was an erie feeling to read it, but it is 100% true. You can lose and will, eveything and be on the road to total disaster if you dont take his advice.
Rating:
Summary: a persuasive indictment
Review: I'd refine Seidenberg's and Dawes's analysis by agreeing that there IS abundant gender bias disfavoring fathers in America's family courts---but more fundamentally there's an even stronger predisposition toward recognizing one, dominant parent: a `better parent' bias. The courts tend to take sides very quickly, and resist backtracking or changing their mind; thus all of the injustice and malignity that usually falls upon fathers can and does descend upon a mother now and then.Children in the vast majority of cases want to be parented---not visited---by both their parents; both parents have their strengths and weaknesses, and frequently complement each other: there is no `better' parent! I read the facts very truthfully conveyed in _The Father's Emergency Guide..._ as a persuasive indictment that the courts and the rest of the divorce `industry' pervasively subvert the child's best interest in, and right to, the joint custody of both his/her parents. It's practical advice---valuable as it is---only serves to mitigate the damage: we also desperately need comprehensive and penetrating reform of the system.
Rating: 
Summary: decent advice but extremely depressing
Review: In my opinion, Seidenberg's book had one purpose: depress the reader. How many times does this guy have to talk about the gender bias in domestic courts? This issue is no secret, and the author address the gender bias as though he was the first to discover it! Seidenberg does address other relavent topics, but I felt as though he speaks too much about cases in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. He would have done better to address the many custody issues from a more broad perspective. There were some tidbits of useful information, but they all seemed to be overshadowed by Seidenberg's negative attitude. Also, this book seems better suited for a father who is still married but sees a divorce/custody fight in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: decent advice but extremely depressing
Review: In my opinion, Seidenberg's book had one purpose: depress the reader. How many times does this guy have to talk about the gender bias in domestic courts? This issue is no secret, and the author address the gender bias as though he was the first to discover it! Seidenberg does address other relavent topics, but I felt as though he speaks too much about cases in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. He would have done better to address the many custody issues from a more broad perspective. There were some tidbits of useful information, but they all seemed to be overshadowed by Seidenberg's negative attitude. Also, this book seems better suited for a father who is still married but sees a divorce/custody fight in the near future.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book Is A Bad Call. It's Not Just A Father's Problem.
Review: Just as The Liberator newsletter said, I found this book to be a startling book. But not for the same reasons it did. I was devastated in divorce-custody litigation-losing my home and children, and driven to bankruptcy as a result of child support, and legal fees. But I am not the Father, I am the Mother, and as it turns out my case is not isolated. The abusiveness of the legal culture brutalizes parents and children. Not just fathers. I felt the information about the fathers, mothers, judges, lawyers, psychologists, and social workers was treated lightly and in a stereotypical manner. The patterns of events don't fit the experience I had. My husband initiated the divorce. He says we don't share the same goals any longer. A process server handed me Divorce Papers accompanied by a Restraining Order (prohibiting me to enter my home even to kiss my children good night or get clothes for the next day at work) as I arrived home from work one Monday evening. The RO was issued because he told a judge Monday afternoon that on Sunday I had awakened him beating him with an iron skillet. False allegations of sexual abuse were filed two days later and the temporary hearing for custody and child support were held before I could hire a lawyer. I was not allowed communication with my children for the five months it took to find there was no evidence of sexual abuse. The lawyer I hired said this had obviously been in the works for months. The temporary order turned into a decision for the father since he had been the only parent taking care of the children for the five months I was under investigation and the judge said it was better for the children because he had the house. I was and am a good Mother. I miss my children and hate being delegated to alternating weekends and one night a week. I have been buying every book available. This gave me the least amount of solid information. This author needs to get out more and see the real world. The laws seem to have been passed in a vacuum and have been well intended. As they are they are causing more damage than good and this author and his attorney friend aren't helping matters any.
Rating:
Summary: Dead on for the common divorce...
Review: Of course there are divorces in which the mother is the victim...however, Seidenberg writes of the most common type of divorce in which Dad (and the family) is the ultimate victim. Dads need to raise their self-esteem by refusing to let belligerent women and the Divorce Industry beat them down. The events Seidenberg describe parallel my own experiences. I will never forget what happened to me, and I will advise my 7 year old son never to marry. Be with women, raise children with them (with appropriate legal agreements) to be sure, but never to marry. It is too often a terrible deal for a Man.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! Shocking, yet helpful.
Review: Starting out in this book, its a little depressing. The truth hurts when it comes to father's chances in custody cases. I feel much more knowlegable about the real world of custody disputes....a must read for any father considering fighting for custody!
Rating:
Summary: Some truth but too much anger here
Review: The authors make some good points about how the system works--especially how the so-called experts, social workers and psychologists, are just in it for the money. But the authors wrongly conclude that men are always the victim. Not so. The system is biased--sometimes against men, sometimes against women, sometimes against homosexuals, people of color, etc. etc. etc. These authors don't understand, it's not about them. It's about a totally flawed and corrupt system that screws everyone over. Moreover, the man who takes this book to heart may find himself losing custody because of his militant anger. I have read many books on this topic and was impressed with "How to Find the Right Divorce Lawyer" by West, also available on Amazon. That author sums up the abuses in the system quite well, saying, "The sad reality of the court system is that no parent has control over what judge he or she will get, what the judge's biases are, or what the judge will ultimately decide. The more assertive and tenacious your lawyer is, though, the more likely he or she will have an impact on the judge's decision." The moral of the story is: figure out what makes a divorce lawyer good and then go find and hire one, ASAP. Grousing, raging and tormenting your ex and everyone else will not help.
Rating:
Summary: Not much here but gloom.
Review: The few workable ideas are over shadowed be the negative tone and self serving anger. There are much better books out there.
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