Reviews

Fathers, long considered to be less involved with their children than mothers and prone to disinterest and even abandonment, are the subject of this collection of essays. The book focuses on the concern fathers feel for their daughters and includes the overwhelming sense of responsibility that accompanies fatherhood. The collection, which begins with a piece about birth and ends with one about an anticipated death, comments on the various stages of a daughter's life. Especially moving is Mark Pendergrast's account of his dismay and horror when both his grown daughters became involved in the recovered memory movement and accused him of abuse. The outstanding feature of this collection lies in the deep commitment to fatherhood that the writers express. It is refreshing, in this age of competition and hostility between the sexes, to witness such respect and admiration from men toward their wives, ex-wives, and daughters. Highly recommended for all public libraries.‘Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo

Lily, Annie, Katie Chun, Anya, Mary Katherine, Lowry, Madison, Linnet, Ruth, Aviva, Francesca, Andrea, Mariko, RachelÄthese are among the daughters whose stories their fathers chronicle here. All the pieces commissioned for this book by Henry, founding editor of Ploughshares, and McPherson (Crabcakes) are literate and absorbing; several have appeared elsewhere. In the most wrenching selection, Mark Pendergrast, author of For God, Country and Coca-Cola, relates the estrangement of his two daughters, who broke off contact with him after supposedly retrieving "memories" of his sexual abuse. In one of the most enlightening accounts, Samuel Shem, a psychiatrist, who with his wife traveled to China to adopt their daughter, details the gender differentiation to which boys and girls in all cultures are subject from the earliest age. Fred Viebahn (The Stain) talks about raising a biracial child with his wife, the poet Rita Dove. And in the most poignant account, William Petersen, a fishmonger and writer, relates a trip to Mexico with his daughter, who is gravely weakened by leukemia. This is a collection for those interested in bedrock human relations. (June)