Fathers and Sons: 11 Great Writers Talk about Their Dads, Their Boys, and What It Means to Be a Man »

“No relationship has more power than the one between a father and a son…whether for good or ill—that relationship molds a man.” – David Granger, Editor-in-Chief, Esquire

From Esquire, which has always showcased the world’s finest writers, comes a stunning collection of often moving essays about fatherhood.

Compelling and eloquent, these are some of the magazine’s most emotionally powerful pieces, as eleven award-winning and notable authors reflect on manhood through memories of their own fathers and their personal experience of raising sons. The collection covers everything from birth to death, from the thrilling and terrifying hours Daniel Voll spent in the delivery room during his wife’s long labor to Jake La Motta’s heartbreaking piece about losing his two sons to David Sedaris’s sidesplitting portrait at his father—a food hoarder who once took a bite of his own hat.

Includes:

Tom Chiarella’s journey with his two sons to meet Xbox’s most famous Halo gamer and his posse

Humorist Larry Doyle on the fearsome “babyproofer” who inspected his house for death traps…and found them everywhere

Tom Junod’s gradual realization that his father’s lessons on how to dress like a man were really lessons on life

Scott Raab on the lifelong struggle with his tough-guy dad

Ron Reagan on his bittersweet victory in a swimming race against his father

John Richardson on his father’s controversial career as a covert CIA operative

Martha Sherill on her father’s life as a swinging bachelor and the former girlfriends that surface after his death

A loving essay from Alec Wilkinson about raising a child with special needs