My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound Paperback – November 12, 2018

I know that I'm not alone in being raised in a Single Mother home. This book covers what it is like for a boy growing up in such an environment and his journey to reconnect with his Father and other men. He also deals with the issue of mental illness as a contributing factor, although this may not apply in every case.

In his beautiful memoir, My Distant Dad, Jed Diamond speaks to the enormous impact of the father-wound on a large number of both women and men. It is easy to identify with the ways he suffered from his father's lack of involvement and painful criticism when he was involved. Diamond's book is a wholesome life of contribution and meaning. I was so captivated by Diamond's book that I read it in its entirety in three days.

The description failed to mention this is really a memoir. I was expecting a more nonfiction self help style book. It is written in a somewhat childish fragmented style that is difficult to get through. I’m disappointed that I can’t seem to find a more straightforward book on this subject.

This book is a keeper; one that resonates on many levels. Now that I've finished, it will end up on the memoir shelf of the home library, complete with dog-eared pages and highlighted lines. The local bookstore might classify it as self-help. But, "My Distant Dad" is more than that. The book is rooted in the fertile soil of the author's life experience, growing up in southern California in the middle of the twentieth century. The writing is candid and fearless. It bears the hallmarks of a hero's journey, superimposed on a lifetime of pursuing knowledge about men and their social and psychological health.Within its pages I could not help but examine more closely my relationship with my Dad and how it evolved over the years. So I highly recommend this book to men interested in knowing themselves better, and who feel the desire to become more. We men can be so much more than just the job we hold. We have to cultivate and demonstrate healthier ways of expressing our emotions, especially the fear and the anger. This book offers empowerment and guidance toward those ends. So I recommend it highly to readers and thinkers, especially to men who want to become more.

Jed Diamond's insightful masterwork addresses the emotional absence of a caring and engaged father. I am one of the fortunate men whose father was loving and educative as I grew up. However, several men close to me were not so lucky. This book is compelling and instructive and can help heal emotional wounds of more than those directly afflicted by unresolved father issues. The father wound can be passed through generations. Further, over 40 percent of the Baby Boomer generation has divorced; thus, countless Millennial children have experienced paternal disengagement and emotional absence. This heartfelt book can become a nonthreatening therapeutic resource for so many broken families. Read this book if a father wound applies to you; read it if a father wound hamstrings a man you love, whether a family member or a suffering male friend. Then pass the book along to those who are hurting…and talk about it.

"In his new book, My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound, Dr. Jed Diamond is the master storyteller of his own journey from childhood trauma, through adult difficulties, to healing and reconciliation. Jed is stunningly open and honest about the most intimate details of his life and his personal struggle. As if he was writing a memoir, Jed shares his story with readers - his experiences, his pain, his mis-understandings, his ah-ha moments, and his deep insights and new understandings. It is a breathtaking experience to walk with Jed on his path to personal healing. Jed is holding up the mirror for all who are courageous enough to look into it, see themselves in his story and begin their journey to healing and wholeness."--Jackie Black, Ph.D., BCC, creator of Couples Daring to Live Well (with illness) Program™ and Couples Daring to Live Well (with illness) Retreat™

“In Jed Diamond’s new book, My Distant Dad, he examines a topic that has profoundly affected our society, both men and women, who have grown up with an absent or distant father. So much focus has been placed on the importance of a mother figure but just as important is the presence of a father. For many men this absence has resulted in a sense of being lost and alienated from those they need the most. This book offers a path to healing and wholeness. I know because this book is in many ways reflective of my own journey.”--James R. Doty, M.D., Founder and Director of the Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and New York Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

"My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound is enjoyable exploration of everything men never talk about...but need to. I am inspired by Jed's raw honesty, humor and vulnerability in every story he shares. I laughed at his assertion that "it's never too late to have a happy childhood". Jed's willingness to fearlessly expose his own hurt, shame and mental health challenges comes across as powerfully masculine and intelligent. As I explore the joy of doing the same in my own life I realize that this is the key to 'having a happy childhood' in this very moment.

Both an engaging story and insightful into the struggles that abandonment of any form imposes.

Schönes but. Liebevoll geschrieben.

Jed’s book has helped me a little more to accept myself, as knowing now the consequences of my dad’s trauma on me, it couldn’t have turned out any different. A very helpful read