So Far, So Good: 40 Dads Talk About Becoming Parents and How They Figured It Out
Brendan Leonard
September 2026
Wisdom, advice, and stories collected and distilled from 40 dads
In the months leading up to my son’s birth, the only thing I knew for sure about being a dad was that I had no idea how to be a dad. So, I reached out to friends who had kids and asked them: How did you do it? What is it like? How many diapers do you think you changed?
Every dad I talked to had bits of wisdom and stories from their experiences, that echoed in my head as we approached our due date, when we were in the hospital bringing our little guy into the world, the joyful, surreal, and exhausting first months, toddlerhood, and even now, as I wrestle with the joys and challenges of guiding a four-year-old through the days in his little world.
I edited and condensed each interview to what I thought were the most meaningful and useful parts, created an illustration for each one, and compiled them in this new book: So Far, So Good. I hope the advice and wisdom from these 40 guys are as helpful to other parents as they’ve been to me.
Available now in hardcover and ebook:
Hardcover and ebook at Bookshop.org [<–please use this link if you’d like to maximize your support for me + independent bookstores]
Hardcover and ebook at Barnes & Noble