Sunday, September 02, 2007

The Dangerous Book for Boys...

A while back, Glenn spoke highly of this book. I thought then how much I regretted the childhood I was able to provide for our own son (as well as our daughters). He was caught squarely in the vise of a dad who had a moderately dangerous childhood, and a world which now no longer admires these things. Don't mistake me: Although none of us are terribly athletic, he's no wimp. We kept him active in Boy Scouts for as long as he could stand it, and of course, we do have and enjoy our guns. My point here is that it would have been great to have a kid who would benefit from a bit of childhood Danger. Timing is everything.

I've seen TDBFB in bookstores, and have briefly looked at it, but not having a son (or grandson) of an age who would benefit from it today, I really haven't looked at it deeply. It seems to be a great gift for a guy like myself who would like to give a son a glimpse of the glories of Danger.

But, courtesy of Gerard, I see that TDBFB includes some less-than-manly topics...for instance: "How to Marble Paper". Gerard also directs the reader to Sippican Cottage, who offers his modern-day version: The Borderline Sociopathic Book for Boys, and the companion blog, The Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys. Do read both.

Ah. Childhood. Sweet memories of burning bugs with any means possible, drawing pictures of guns and tanks and fighter jets, making gunpowder with my chemistry set, and shooting my brother with my BB gun.

No comments: