Men's Health and Ridiculous Road-Trip Games we are. And big thanks to the Eric Spitznagel for that.

Yes, that Men's Health. For real. More here.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Fathermucker by Greg Olear.

Travel. Read. Canceled flights. More read. We almost feel guilty about the fact that Fathermucker by Greg Olear isn't even coming out until October, because you will want to read it, and we hope you will. We also are struggling with what to write that doesn't give anything away, or the wrong things away, but what is that, and what would those things be? Not entirely sure, so here's what we will say, there is a father, a writerly, somewhat faux writerly, yet still writerly father none-the-less, who works at home while doing most of the parenting duties. There is a long day, and yes the book covers just one day. A day full of play dates and arguments, discipline and crackers, butt wiping and playgrounds, and all the things we do when we are caring for little kids. There is also anger though and frustration, even the threat of violence, and real emotions, all of which rarely gets captured on the page when it comes to describing the quotidian and nightmarish, yet still somehow joyous, most of time, some of time, experience of parenting. And that's something to be applauded, just as Hush Up and Listen Stinky Pooh Butt by Ken Sparling, was to be applauded for all of the same reasons. There is also humor, however, lots of it, and pop culture, lots of that too, and the storytelling is propulsive and welcoming, and it's all very good, and fun, and yet, even with all that said, we want to pause to pay homage to a moment that comes when much of the day has passed, and following a run-in with the police, and the protagonist who has a work-related goal he wants, maybe needs, to pull-off, an interview with a local celebrity, and we won't ruin that by saying any more, but when he finally has a moment with said celebrity, we were struck more than at any other moment in the novel, how hard it all can be, the intersection of parenting and wanting to be an artist, but not quite getting there, or being there, wherever there is, and realizing maybe that maybe you won't ever be there, and that you might have to embrace that your parenting skills may be the best thing about you, despite the work you put in and the anxiety and the scrapping to be something more, and at that moment we thought about our own resistance to trying to be that guy, mostly artist guy who leaves his regular paying job to try and be much more of an artist guy and dad, and our own discomfort with all that, and what it means about masculinity and the struggles of our own dad with this very thing. The moment felt so real and piercing and knowing and timely that we started to cry at the recognition of it all, and that's something, because we don't ever remember quite seeing that in print, and when that happens, when you experience such a graphic display of your own needs, and pain, and wants, it's a gift, and why we read, something we haven't been driven to note here recently, maybe not since The Road, another story about a father, but there it is, and was, and sit tight until October, but then get on it, because it just might change your life.

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

We know that it is merely coincidental that there was a bomb scare and a police lock down in our neighborhood this morning that we had to wade through to get one of the kids to camp just hours after finishing The Road. We also know that you can't compare the father-son journey in the post-Apocalyptic world of The Road to our walk this morning, and yet that doesn't mean this morning's journey wasn't scary, and it doesn't mean you can feel all that safe dropping your kid off anywhere near potential violence no matter how safe it seems. Neither does it mean that it wasn't sort of eerie watching droves of people being re-directed out of the neighborhood, and away from public transportation, forcing them to walk to who knows where exactly, because at least initially you weren't quite sure where to go or how to get there. Further, we know that it is coincidental that we read The Road so shortly after reading Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt by Ken Sparling, that there was no conscious plan in terms of themes, and yet we did. We also know that comparing the somewhat quotidian horrors, frustrations and intermittent bursts of joy and awesomeness of parenting on a day-to-day basis in a non-post Apocalyptic world are not ever going to be truly comparable to that of The Road, and yet, both novels are written in sparse, at times electrifying prose, both involve anger, fear and small doses of happiness, and both possess a level of dread, you sort of know what's coming, but aren't quite sure, and maybe don't know want to know anyway. Which is not so different than parenting in any world, post-Apocalyptic or not. The Road makes you hope you never have to face any of the things captured in this story because you know that you cannot and will not be able to do so, and yet, again, it seems so possible and so real, you almost wish you didn't have to read it. But you do, because as we wrote about Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt, we read, we don't have choice, and we want to feel something when we read, we have to, and The Road ensures that we do.

For your consideration, a special Oscar edition of TBWCYL, Inc.'s 2009 Top Ten Movie list.

You may have heard that the Oscars are upon us and we thought that given this, why not take the opportunity to roll out the TBWCYL, Inc. 2009 Top Ten Movie list? So, even though David Masciotra will probably have something to say about it, here you go.

(1) District 9 - Neill Blomkamp

(2) The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow

(3) Where The Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze

(4) UP - Pete Doctor/Bob Peterson

(5) A Single Man - Tom Ford

(6) Precious -Lee Daniels

(7) The Road - John Hillcoat

(8) Up in The Air - Jason Reitman

(9) Zombieland - Ruben Fleisher

(10) Star Trek - J.J. Abrams

Honorable Mention: Crazy Heart, Inglourious Basterds, The Hangover, A Serious Man and (500) Days of Summer.

2008 Top Ten Movie list.

2007 Top Ten Movie list.

2009 Top Ten Music list.

2009 Top Ten Books list.

2009 Top Ten Television list.

Dread. Mad Max. Destruction. Fathers and sons. Deliverance. Viggo. It's the end of the world as we know it. And we do not feel fine. The Road.