Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood combines the best pieces from the award-winning zine Rad Dad and from the blog Daddy Dialectic, two kindred publications that have tried to explore parenting as political territory. Both of these projects have pushed the conversation around fathering beyond the safe, apolitical focus most books and websites stick to; they have not been complacent but have worked hard to create a diverse, multi-faceted space in which to grapple with the complexity of fathering.

Today more than ever, fatherhood demands constant improvisation, risk, and struggle. With grace and honesty and strength, Rad Dad’s writers tackle all the issues that other parenting guides are afraid to touch: the brutalities, beauties, and politics of the birth experience, the challenges of parenting on an equal basis with mothers, the tests faced by transgendered and gay fathers, the emotions of sperm donation, and parental confrontations with war, violence, racism, and incarceration. Rad Dad is for every father out in the real world trying to parent in ways that are loving, meaningful, authentic, and ultimately revolutionary.

Contributors Include:

Steve Almond, Jack Amoureux, Mike Araujo, Mark Andersen, Jeff Chang, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jeff Conant, Sky Cosby, Jason Denzin, Cory Doctorow, Craig Elliott, Chip Gagnon, Keith Hennessy, David L. Hoyt, Simon Knapus, Ian MacKaye, Tomas Moniz, Zappa Montag, Raj Patel, Jeremy Adam Smith, Jason Sperber, Burke Stansbury, Shawn Taylor, Tata, Jeff West, and Mark Whiteley.

Combining the best of the award-winning magazine "Rad Dad" and the Daddy Dialectic blog, this compilation features the best essays written for fathers by a multitude of dads from different walks of life. Bestselling authors, writers, musicians, and others collaborate on this collection that focuses on some of the modern complexities of fatherhood. Touching on topics such as the brutalities, beauties, and politics of the birth experience; the challenges of parenting on an equal basis with mothers; the tests faced by transgendered and gay fathers; the emotions of sperm donation; and parental confrontations with war, violence, racism, and incarceration, this anthology leaves no stone unturned in the discussion of being a dad.

“Rad Dad gives voice to egalitarian parenting and caregiving by men in a truly radical fashion, with its contributors challenging traditional norms of what it means to be a father and subverting paradigms, while making you laugh in the process. With its thoughtful and engaging stories on topics like birth, stepfathering, gender, politics, pop culture, and the challenges of kids growing older, this collection of essays and interviews is a compelling addition to books on fatherhood.”
—Jennifer Silverman, co-editor, My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities

“With a diverse, smart, and political collection of contributors, Rad Dad will be an instant classic among the new generation of parents whose parenting intersects with their politics. There’s no way you can put this book down without feeling both inspired and entertained by the bold honesty and fierce love heard in these voices.”
—Jessica Mills, author of My Mother Wears Combat Boots: A Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us

“Rad Dad is one of the most important voices on the planet—at once parental, political, feminist, humble, and full of heart. In Rad Dad, none of our assumptions about parenting, gender, or the way things ‘have to be’ in the world go unexplored.”
—Ariel Gore, author of Bluebird: On Women and Happiness and The Hip Mama Survival Guide