Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This is a hilarous account of family life told through a man's point of view. The POV is refreshing and it's a book that will have you laughing and nodding your head. For humor from a mother's POV I recommend Debbie Farmer's 'Don't Put Lipstick on the Cat!' I give both books five stars for family humor!
Rating:
Summary: Shimmering Love Story
Review: This is a love story. The story moves so quickly, and so much happens to the author and his family, that it didn't hit me until the final pages how this book was really an elegant and deeply-felt love story of a man and his children. I was very moved by the author's brutal honesty about how difficult his marriage is and how his emotional relationship with his children becomes the central fact of his life. It's a wonderful book, I laughed and cried and was sad when it was over.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting book, unlikeable man
Review: This is an at-times funny book, especially the author's descriptions of when his kids get older. It is interesting to see them develop unique personalities and the parents should be commended on trying to make sure the kids (including the oldest, non-triplet son) grow up close to their siblings.
But my enjoyment of the book was marred by several things. For one, the author is very clear about his favortism towards his sons at the expense of his daughter. I can't help but think about how she'll feel growing up and reading that one day. While the author worried about letting her be too much of a typical girl, because he thought he would spend sleepless nights worrying about her during her teen years, a more pressing issue are the sleepless nights he'll endure while she's out dating man after man trying to find the love and attention she didn't get from her father.
Also I have to wonder what kind of man sits back letting his wife work 90 hours a week at a job she hates, fighting with her over who gets to wheel the stroller down the block to the coffee shop the few times she is home, and won't improve his wife's work/family balance by either getting a job of his own or moving to any one of the numerous places they could raise a family for less money. The only real reasons he gives for not moving are that their family is close (although they don't seem to see them that much anyway) and that he doesn't like change. Maybe not, but a change where your kids actually get to grow up with a mom would be a change worth making.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This is an extremely funny, and extremely well written book. It is also a light read. Anybody who has kids and has silently thanked God that they did not have twins or triplets themselves will enjoy Stockler's honest and witty rendering of what life with triplets is really like (i.e., chaotic and sleep-deprived).Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this book was marred by my increasing dislike of Stockler's wife. If Stockler described their relationship and her involvement as a parent honestly, I can't understand why he remains married to her and/or why she ever bothered to go through IVF in the first place. She is a high powered New York lawyer, who works until at least 10 pm most nights and often later. Stockler's book is a litany of all the important rites of passage that Roni missed because she was at work, as well as all the "unimportant" (but just as crucial from the perspective of a child) day in and day out moments that make up the bulk of child-rearing. I am a working mother myself, but I took unpaid leaves of absence for the first years of both my children's lives, and I gladly put up with lowered productivity (and hence salary) now in order to make my children my highest priority. I might have been more understanding if Stockler's wife was doing important, challenging work that she found fulfilling, but according to Stockler, she HATED her job and was there just for the money. And it was at that point I lost sympathy for both her and Stockler. There are more important things than money, and being there to raise your children well is one of them. Stockler acknowledged repeatedly through the book that Roni didn't have to endure that brutal work schedule, that they could have moved to a more affordable region of the country and gotten by on what she (or he) could have made in a more normal job with less brutal work hours. The big unanswered question in the book is why the heck they didn't, then. But Stockler wasn't much of a hero himself. As you read the book, his obvious love for his children shines through (although while I appreciate his honesty in pointing out his difficulties in bonding with the one girl, Hannah, I cringe to think of how she will feel one day when she reads this book), and you've got to admire his willingness to be not just Mr. Mom, but Mr. Mom of triplets and an older child. But I found myself wishing he would read a few parenting manuals, as some of his parenting tactics (offering bribes for good behavior, letting the children stay up as late as they want on school nights) leave much to be desired. I know it is hard to be firm and enforce rules, and it must be exponentially more difficult when dealing with three toddlers at once, but as every parent (except, apparently, Stockler) knows, giving in is easier in the short term but sets disastrous precedents for the long run. The giving in and bribes sure make for more entertaining reading, but I can't help but think that these are going to be some pretty out of control teenagers. I probably shouldn't criticize when I have not (thank God) had to deal with the breath-taking logistical problems of raising triplets. That Stockler has been able to do so while maintaining a sharp sense of humor is to his credit. However, I think it is fair to say that when I reached the end of the book, my memories of having chuckled through most of it were overshadowed by the sad realization that this book portrays the worst of modern American culture: when a big paycheck is more important than spending time with your children.
Rating:
Summary: Or, how NOT to raise children...
Review: This is an extremely funny, and extremely well written book. It is also a light read. Anybody who has kids and has silently thanked God that they did not have twins or triplets themselves will enjoy Stockler's honest and witty rendering of what life with triplets is really like (i.e., chaotic and sleep-deprived). Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this book was marred by my increasing dislike of Stockler's wife. If Stockler described their relationship and her involvement as a parent honestly, I can't understand why he remains married to her and/or why she ever bothered to go through IVF in the first place. She is a high powered New York lawyer, who works until at least 10 pm most nights and often later. Stockler's book is a litany of all the important rites of passage that Roni missed because she was at work, as well as all the "unimportant" (but just as crucial from the perspective of a child) day in and day out moments that make up the bulk of child-rearing. I am a working mother myself, but I took unpaid leaves of absence for the first years of both my children's lives, and I gladly put up with lowered productivity (and hence salary) now in order to make my children my highest priority. I might have been more understanding if Stockler's wife was doing important, challenging work that she found fulfilling, but according to Stockler, she HATED her job and was there just for the money. And it was at that point I lost sympathy for both her and Stockler. There are more important things than money, and being there to raise your children well is one of them. Stockler acknowledged repeatedly through the book that Roni didn't have to endure that brutal work schedule, that they could have moved to a more affordable region of the country and gotten by on what she (or he) could have made in a more normal job with less brutal work hours. The big unanswered question in the book is why the heck they didn't, then. But Stockler wasn't much of a hero himself. As you read the book, his obvious love for his children shines through (although while I appreciate his honesty in pointing out his difficulties in bonding with the one girl, Hannah, I cringe to think of how she will feel one day when she reads this book), and you've got to admire his willingness to be not just Mr. Mom, but Mr. Mom of triplets and an older child. But I found myself wishing he would read a few parenting manuals, as some of his parenting tactics (offering bribes for good behavior, letting the children stay up as late as they want on school nights) leave much to be desired. I know it is hard to be firm and enforce rules, and it must be exponentially more difficult when dealing with three toddlers at once, but as every parent (except, apparently, Stockler) knows, giving in is easier in the short term but sets disastrous precedents for the long run. The giving in and bribes sure make for more entertaining reading, but I can't help but think that these are going to be some pretty out of control teenagers. I probably shouldn't criticize when I have not (thank God) had to deal with the breath-taking logistical problems of raising triplets. That Stockler has been able to do so while maintaining a sharp sense of humor is to his credit. However, I think it is fair to say that when I reached the end of the book, my memories of having chuckled through most of it were overshadowed by the sad realization that this book portrays the worst of modern American culture: when a big paycheck is more important than spending time with your children.
Rating:
Summary: a joy
Review: What a delightful fun book for any parent!
Any parent - mom or dad - no matter how many kids you have - separately - or all at once - can enjoy this insightful, wise trip through early parenthood. I saw myself in some of the author's shoes. I envied him sometimes, I shuddered with him sometimes, I laughed or smiled with him most of the time. The trips+1 are lucky to have these parents.
I was lucky to read this book. u will b2
Rating:
Summary: Family Values X 3 and Hilarious
Review: What a funny, funny guy Stockler is. I bought this book for my wife for her birthday and read it myself. This guy is way funnier and smarter than Dave Barry, but not as literary as David Sedaris (but more clued into reality)--he's right up the middle. This book made me laugh but also think. It's also paced like an adventure story, moves quickly. Lots of great characters in the book--the author, his eccentric wife, the babysitter, the crazy people he meets. A great read. And that's from a guy who loves The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air.
Rating:
Summary: Brave New World of Parenthood
Review: Wow -- this book really made my New Year start off with a bang. A girlfriend gave it to me for Christmas, and I read it straight through on New Year's Day. It is unbelievably charming and well-written, and the author takes the form of the memoir and a parenting book and makes them uniquely his own. My husband is a wonderful father, but much more reserved and old-fashioned when it comes to the emotional core of this book. I laughed out loud and cried, too. I'm definitely going to use it in my book club. And I'm giving it as my belated Xmas present to all my girlfriends. A great find -- pass it along.
Rating:
Summary: Funniest Book of 2003!
Review: Wow, I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud when reading a book. I was reading this out loud to my wife and my brother. Stockler's book works on three levels--first, it's just a hilarious adventure story. The chapters on taking the kids to the ladies room (because the men's room is filthy, which he compares to The Andromeda Strain) and going to the supermarket, where the kids cause mayhem, are classics. But underneath all the comedy is a really incredible intelligence, always taking a step back and analyzing how his life works, what's important, and what it's like to be a man. It's also an incredibly honest look at marriage. Stockler admits that he ie emotionally closer to his kids than hiw wife, and, in his own quiet way, it's kind of a revolutinoary statement. He basically says that being married is harder than being a Dad. That takes a lot of guts--but this is one honest book. He also writes about the dynamics of the kids--they way the four of them have a whole spider-web of interlocking relationships--the the eyes for detail that Graham Greene had for his characters. And the third level is the journey he takes--how he folds in his parents and his childhood to deliver us to a discovery of who he is and where he came from. So it's also a very serious book. Much more serious than the cover would have you think. It's a more important memoir than any memoir I've read. While it's not as "important" or post-modern or self-conscious as Dave Egger's masterpiece, I think it is more honest and compelling, and much more true. It's also more insightful than the two Augusten Burroughs books. It's really a one-of-a-kind book and I'm glad I discovered it. Read this book. It will stay in your mind for weeks.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read this book in public!
Review: You'll be laughing so hard that people will be staring at you. Hey, this guy is as funny as Dave Barry. I'm taking it to my mother in a nursing home, who could use a few laughs, and I'm also ordering a few copies for friends.
I agree with other posters that some photos of the kids would have been nice - and how about an update on their progress today?
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