Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern Boxtree, HK$170
Books have been written from blogs. Sh*t My Dad Says is the outcome of tweets Justin Halpern started posting of his father's quotable quotes. The first had to do with the family dog, Angus. On a walk, Halpern Snr tells his son to look at the animal's bottom. 'You can tell by the dilation of his a**hole that he's going to s*** soon. See. There it goes.' A 'funny' remark a day led to a following of hundreds of thousands of people and to a book and television deal, with William Shatner playing the bad-tempered dad. Some readers will take delight in reading the curmudgeonly thoughts and words of a father with no time for niceties, or baby talk. His advice to his son on spending the night at a friend's house for the first time: 'Try not to p*** yourself.' His comment on seeing Halpern with a bloody nose: 'The air is dry? Do me a favour and tell people you got punched in the face.' In isolation the 'sayings' fall flat. But as a whole, the project turns out to be a feel-good insight into the dynamics of one family, where you tell it like it is or suffer the consequences. The tweets may be laced with profanity, but beneath are philosophical nuggets as good as any you'll find in a self-help book.
