Uncle Dad
Published by Putnam & Berkley
The Story
Acclaimed novelist C.W.Smith explored his own experiences as a divorced father-separated from his twin children-in a 1985 Esquire article. The response was so overwhelming that Smith was inspired to write this moving, refreshingly honest memoir of his own broken home.
There are no good guys or bad guys, no winners or losers in this sensitive and powerful account. There are only human beings trying to grapple with anger and loneliness and the unending pain of loss-and, ultimately, with the joy of mutual forgiveness and understanding.
Uncle Dad
C.W. Smith talks about being a divorced dad and about his book Will They Love Me When I Leave with Charles Gibson on Good Morning America.
Praise & Reviews
“Uncle Dad is MUST READING!”
— Woman Magazine
“A frank and heartbreaking account...[we should] be grateful that Smith has shared the experience so that others may be comforted and perhaps learn from it.”
— Abilene Reporter - News
A unique book on the problem of children after parents divorce…. In baring his soul, in being uncompromisingly honest about himself and his family, Smith gives the rest of us an opportunity to avoid his experiences.”
— Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Smith details with openness and honesty his relationship with his twin children.”
— Charlotte Observer
“Smith's …unsparingly personal and searing chronicle about fatherhood is written from a different angle, that of a painful acceptance of guilt about his creating a ‘broken home.’ Its choppy sentences and many ragged time frames reflect an aggrieved sense of loss, as his role changes from Maintainer of Home to that of "Uncle Dad," trying to remain within range of his children as both target and sounding board. The book is not comforting to read, and the title's question implies a doubtful outcome, especially regarding teenagers, but newly divorced fathers will want to read it to avoid the same mistakes and self-deceptions. …recommended for popular parenthood collections.
— Library Journal