Fathermucker

June 27, 2011
Slipstreaming behind Tom Perotta's Little Children, Olear's familiar take on suburbia is energetically narrated by freelance writer Josh Lansky, a New Paltz, N.Y., Mr. Mom. With his wife, Stacy, a former actress, away on business, Josh must care for their preschoolers, Maude and Roland. But when a female friend suggests that Stacy is having an affair, Josh's orderly world spins off its axis. A single Friday, morning to midnight (with a touch of Saturday thrown in) unfolds in a stream of activities, imaginings, and recollections, sometimes in screenplay form: Roland's Asperger diagnosis; reveries of Stacy having sex with another woman; Josh trying to arrange an interview with an alt-rock sensation; Josh battling recurring imagined scenes of his wife's possible infidelity. Rather than confronting her, Josh confronts the loose-lipped friend, precipitating his own slip and a series of melodramatic questions. Will Josh do the right thing? Will he confront Stacy about the accusation? Will Maude and Roland go to bed without a fuss? Olear's follow-up to Totally Killer is packed with contemporary references (Facebook; Bob the Builder), suburban discontents, and marital dissonances, but also rife with cliché and finished with a pat resolution.

September 1, 2011
In the toddler-friendly world of New Paltz, New York, screenwriter and fledgling freelancer Josh Lansky has tentatively accepted his role as a stay-at-home dad. Only recently conscious of the parental politics that dominate every class trip and birthday party, Josh's status places him in something of an exotic minority. Tasked as his children's sole caregiver while his wife, Stacy, is away on business, Josh's already unstable world is rocked when a major player in the New Paltz gossip pipeline reveals that Stacy might be having an affair. This brilliantly insightful novel explores the trials of modern fatherhood through one hectic day as Josh examines recent events and questions his family's future. Author Olear casts his singularly witty eye on the yuppie parenting set, where organic cheese crackers have replaced Goldfish, conspicuously expensive strollers are the norm, and every playdate is followed by a gratuitous Facebook status update. Littered with hilariously genuine anecdotes, parental pathos, and a hearty dose of pop culture, this clever, comic, and compassionate novel will appeal to fans of Jim Lindberg and Jonathan Evison.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)