ATTACHMENTS

Closely examined musings on contemporary fatherhood.

In 12 loosely connected essays that collectively shape a kind of memoir, Mann, a professor of creative writing and author of Captive Audience, delves into his emotions as a father of a daughter throughout her first few years of life. The author capably navigates the intricacies of cultural expectations and archetypes, global concerns, and his personal history. In “Attachments, Wild and Tame,” Mann poignantly explores the intersection of the natural world, childhood, and his daughter's burgeoning awareness, finding resonance with timeless children's literature from authors such as Beatrix Potter and Maurice Sendak. “An Essay about Watching Brad Pitt Eat That Is Really about My Own Shit” probes Mann’s personal battles with weight gain and how he avoided projecting such anxieties onto his daughter. The narrative aligns with his perception of Brad Pitt as a paragon of physical perfection, exploring disingenuous on-screen moments when he’s shown devouring fast food. While Mann's writerly style, rife with references and quotes from past and contemporary writers, may imply an audience of fellow writers, he consistently offers sublime reflections on the nuances of parent-child relationships. “What I’m trying to say is that the idea of father-as-model remains so seductive,” he writes. “That a father’s love is most powerfully expressed through pride—his pride for his kid, theirs for him, creating a template of a life worth living, then guiding them through it. The older my daughter gets, the faster time passes, which is both nice and terrifying. The days don’t creep, they gallop along with tenderness and frustration, always a conversation….Sometimes, this is the furthest I’ve ever felt from restlessness, but then I think about how nothing has progressed, we’ve done nothing beyond pass the time together nicely.”

A heartfelt, perceptive, profoundly introspective journey into the realm of parenthood.