Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as “deadbeat dads.” Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine how couples in challenging straits come together and get pregnant so quickly—without planning. The authors chronicle the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the fatal flaws that often lead to the relationship’s demise. They offer keen insight into a radical redefinition of family life where the father-child bond is central and parental ties are peripheral. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Doing the Best I Can shows how mammoth economic and cultural changes have transformed the meaning of fatherhood among the urban poor. Intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers make real the significant obstacles faced by low-income men at every step in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to the often celebratory moment of birth, and finally to the hardships that accompany the early years of the child's life, and beyond.

You asked, and our bear expert answered! From bear diet to bear bags to bear attacks, our resident grizzly empties out his mailbag and addresses more than 50 topics with his characteristic wit and insight.

David will never forget the day he met Theoas much as he might want to. On a mission to right a wrong done to his sister as a child, David walks into LAO Schulz, a famous toy Mecca in the heart of New York City. What he sees that day in the stuffed-animal aisle challenges everything he understands about reality. As David turns the corner, he hears the sound of slapping. He investigates and sees a rather large stuffed bear viciously smacking a toddler around. As quickly as it starts, the attack ends. The bear regards David with cold, plastic eyes, climbs up on its shelf, and quickly settles into the lifeless pose one would expect from stuffed bears. Not only is this stuffed bear alive, David realizes, hes evil. David decides he must own this bear, and with that, their bizarre relationship begins. His name is Theo, and hes got a whopper of a story to further challenge Davids belief system. Cruelly put to death as a real bear cub, Theo is given a second chance at lifeas a stuffed animal. Theo is forced to become a killer as a rising star among the ranks of a secret brotherhood of gangster teddy bears. Betrayed, Theo is left to rot in the slammer. Theo and his friends conspire to escape. With the loyal Houdini by his side, the gang breathes free air again, but karma, as they say, is no friend to an ex-con.

Fear of bears seems almost to be part of what it is to be human. Our species emerged out of the depths of time into a world already populated by these great carnivores. Before we mastered iron and later developed firearms, we had few defences against bears—only watchful caution and elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices to ward off fear. Where human populations grow, bears have traditionally dwindled or disappeared. But when we return to the wild, to places where bears still survive, all our primeval fears awaken again. The risk of an automobile accident on the way to bear country far outstrips the risk of a close-range encounter with a bear, but it’s the bear that worries us as we hurtle down the pavement at a hundred kilometres an hour. In this timely and sensitive book, Kevin Van Tighem calls on decades of experience, knowledge and understanding in order to enlighten readers about our relationship with and attitude toward bears. Along the way we are confronted with the realities confronting these great animals as a result of our ever-expanding human population and their ever-shrinking natural habitat. Through historical research, field observation, practical advice, personal anecdotes and an array of stunning photos, Van Tighem has written a comprehensive book that is meant to demystify bears in order to promote a deeper understanding of these powerful yet vulnerable creatures.

A month-by-month guide to raising a happy and healthy puppy explains how puppies are much like human children and require similar parenting care, covering such topics as instructive play activities, behavioral problems, and housebreaking.