Product Description

Bruce Stockler captures the chaos, joy and challenges of becoming the father of triplets in this hilarious, fast-paced, and refreshingly honest memoir.

From the moment Stockler and his wife ,Roni, learn they have hit the fertility jackpot, their lives are turned upside down. The day the babies are born—in an operating room bustling with 30 doctors, nurses and technicians—is the first jolt in a physical and emotional roller-coaster ride. And every day following continues to reveal one unpredictable twist after another. Just going to the supermarket and keeping the kids—and the store—safe from disaster is like an episode from an adventure story. When the triplets start to walk, and explode in three directions at once, they quickly learn to exploit their newfound freedom at every possible turn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114177 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The stay-at-home dad isn't such an anomaly these days-newspapers run popular-trend features about him, and he himself might write a book about the job (e.g. David Eddie's Housebroken) but the world may have never encountered such a superfather as Stockler seems to be in this parenting memoir. Already an experienced dad-though not an official stay-at-homer, he's the primary caretaker of his two-year-old son Asher (his wife, Roni, is a high-powered New York lawyer)-Stockler nevertheless faces a new and daunting level of responsibility when Roni becomes pregnant with triplets. With keen wit (Stockler has worked as a jokewriter for Jay Leno and writes a humor column for Esquire), he chronicles the difficult pregnancy, offers a dramatic and moving description of the babies' birth, and describes escapade after sleepless escapade with three growing newborns and a toddler. Parents will laugh out loud during the "Lost in the Supermarket" chapter, in which Stockler must strategically position his wagonful of children so that it's far from the bagel display without being close to the muffins-"I made that mistake once and muffins flew through the air like antiaircraft fire"-as well as try to keep one triplet from licking raw chicken juice, another from launching herself from the wagon, and another from freaking out over breakfast cereal. (Asher, four by this time, charms throughout.) They will also appreciate the sometimes startling honesty with which he describes family relationships and the challenges of parenting. Nevertheless, some will wish the book had a wider scope-it gains depth when it considers larger contexts, like the prejudice Roni faces as a working mother when the family moves to the suburbs, but it does this only rarely and briefly. Also, it suffers from some poor editing-the structure is somewhat loose and repetitions abound. But these flaws ultimately don't detract from this book's overall appeal, which should extend even to those fathers who have just one newborn to contend with.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
If you've ever wondered what it might be like to have your family suddenly doubled in size, check out this extremely funny, extremely perceptive memoir by the author of Esquire's bimonthly "Crazy Talk" column. Already the parents of a three-year-old boy, Stockler and his wife find themselves expecting triplets, and nothing will ever seem quite the same again. The author documents the experience from the get-go (the joyful yet surreal news that they're going to have three little babies), through the months leading up to the birth, and on to the first precious years of the triplets' lives. The book is charming and tender, with moments of outright hilarity (the author is, after all, a humor writer). Stockler's voice is fresh and memorable: it's hard to forget his description of him and his wife, learning of the pregnancy, as confused as "dogs dropped onto the surface of a strange and dogless planet," or as numb and soft as "frozen sticks of butter defrosting." Great fun. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Bruce Stockler is a very funny guy. He's our Mr. Mom for the new millennium."
- Jay Leno

“Bruce Stockler may not have time to sleep, but he did have time to write a hilarious, smart and touching book. I hope his wife gives birth to quadruplets so there will be a sequel soon.”
- A.J. Jacobs, Esquire magazine
-- Review

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Memoir
Bruce Stockler's I Sleep at Red Lights is a wondeful memoir which recounts Stockler's experience, for a couple years at least, of parenting triplets. Stockler's experience is a little different than most dads, however. While his wife is a high-powered lawyer at a Manhattan law firm, Stockler is the one who eventually stays home with the kids. They start out in Manhattan in a small apartment, but eventually move to the suburbs. Stockler's story is very funny and heartwarming. ONe of the things that makes this book work is Stockler's almost brutal honesty--he sugarcoats nothing--not his relationship with his wife or his feelings for his kids. His life has not been picture-perfect in the Norman Rockwell sense, but there is a lot of love in that Stockler family and Stockler shares it with us well. Enjoy.

All Men Are Not Created Equal
I heard the author on public radio, talking about his crazy marriage and his book, and so I just bought it. It's a riot! I've never read anything by a man that's at once so funny and observant, but also so touching, emotionally revealing and meaningful. The best part is his brutal honesty--while still being funny--about how difficult marriage is. It's about being a man, being married to a man, juggling marriage and kids--and the chapters on taking his kids to the ladies' room and the supermarkets are classics. My only complaint is--no pictures! Except for the author--and the bags under his eyes tell me this is DEFINITELY a true story.

This is real life
I'm an older, working, single mother of twins and this is a TERRIFIC book. I think Bruce self-effacingly doesn't convey how even harder it is than his descriptions. Please DO WRITE A SEQUEL -- I am dying to know, as my own children are growing up, how everyone turns out. Highest praise for a wonderful look at a situation much like my own -- this is what books are for: to give one an honest and deep look at another's reality for insights about our own life. Thank you, Dear Bruce and Roni and all four dear children.