Becoming Dad

Fatherhood is not found in a manual. It is about becoming.

You are expected to know what to do. To connect instantly. To hold a steady anchor amid sleepless nights and inconsolable crying. But the reality is messier: a creeping sense of powerlessness, of being surplus to requirements, and the unsettling truth that the bond with your child is not given-it must be built from scratch.

Becoming Dad is not a self-help guide. There are no checklists, no milestones, no promises to fix your infant. Instead, L.A. Davenport-who has stood where you stand now-offers a series of raw, contemplative reflections on the first years of fatherhood: the insecurities and the failures, the renegotiated relationship with your partner, and the moments of connection that make the rest worthwhile.

From the constructed nature of the father-child bond to the ambiguous expectations placed on the modern dad, from the veiled competition with a newborn for your partner's attention to the slow discovery that no one parent is more important than the other, Becoming Dad confronts the questions that parenting manuals never ask: not how to care for your child, but who you are supposed to be-and what you must become.

Written in fragments and designed to be read slowly, one reflection at a time, this is a book for any man standing at the threshold of fatherhood, and for anyone who wants to understand what it costs, and what it means, to become a father.

L.A. Davenport is a novelist, short story writer, and medical journalist, and the founder of P-Wave Press. His works include The Nucleus of Reality and Escape. He has two sons.