A Good Man Is Hard to Buy For
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Two weeks ago, it was my birthday. In a stroke of marital genius, my husband presented me with a large box containing an iPad, knowing that not only would I love the iPad, I would be so busy streaming videos that I would forget the kitten that I had asked for—and the stinky litter box that would have come with it.
Then we drove to the beach. He casually asked, as if the idea had just occurred to him, to use the iPad to check traffic patterns. Wait a minute! He had a bought the iPad for him via me! It was a freeloader gift, not unlike giving somebody a blender so they can make you smoothies every morning!
Or was it? I thought, watching him zip his index finger over the various electronic maps of Long Island. From now on, we would drive around the world, minus the depressing, stereotypical yet inevitable ask-for-directions fight or the fight about whether or not we had time for me to stop and use the bathroom in Hardee's. The iPad was a gift for me and us. It was the gift of being quiet, while listening to the radio.
So I stole his idea. Father's Day is coming up and I'm going to give him something that's good for him and us, books that will help us argue a little less and understand each other a lot more.
This May, Esquire reposted a list of the 75 books that all men should read. Sadly, all the books that they picked—save for one—were written by men. The one book written by a nonmale, Flannery O'Connor, was (no joke) A Good Man Is Hard to Find.
Three weeks ago, JoylandMagazine.com published a response called "250 Books by Women That All Men Should Read." Some of the best of the best, include Kelly Link's spooky, lyrical Stranger Things Happen, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping and Toni Morrison's Sula. The one I'm buying my husband, however, is Flannery O'Connor's The Complete Stories—a collection that includes the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," which, for the record, is not about a girl looking for a lover but a grandmother who suddenly gives up all her lifelong prejudices while confronting a very bad individual.
Nevertheless, I do believe that if I happen to circle that story in red marker and festoon it with hand-drawn hearts, my husband might just feel like a good man—who has been found and who has been given the gift of being quiet while reading in bed
Just in case your guy isn't a fan of literature, try these ideas for a Dad's Day gift.
Please note that Harpo Productions, Inc., OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Communications LLC and their affiliated companies and entities have no affiliation with and do not endorse those entities, projects, or websites referenced above, which are provided solely as a courtesy. You should conduct your own independent investigation before using the services of any such entities, projects, or websites. Information is provided for your reference only.
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