A humorist whose column appears in the Denver Rocky Mountain News Sunday edition and in other papers nationwide, W.Bruce Cameron is a genuine Internet phenomenon. What started as an e-mail to six people in 1995 today reaches a passionate audience that numbers in the hundreds of thousands, and his essay "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" is arguably the most popular humour piece ever published on the Web. A very funny writer on the very tricky relationships between fathers and teenage daughters, Cameron begins with the warning signs that you may be living with a teen (No 5. Your car insurance suddenly costs more than your car). He continues with The Telephone (seemingly wired to your teenager's nervous system); The Mall and how to escort your daughter to it without revealing that she has parents; Braces, the costliest metal on earth; Parties; and, of course Dating, featuring the eight simple rules. Rule Number One: If you pull into my driveway and honk, you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure as heck not picking anything up. Filled with dead-on dialogue between father and daughter, 8 SIMPLE RULES offers lasting comic relief.
Fathers may suspect it's not easy for their daughters to become women, but those same daughters have no idea how hard it is for fathers to stand by and watch. According to W. Bruce Cameron, "Having a child mutate into a teenager is a bit like being an airline passenger who must suddenly take over for a stricken pilot and land the plane. And in this case, the passengers are all yelling, 'I have you! I hate you!' and slamming the door to the cockpit."
Cameron has two daughters, so he is doubly aware that raising teenage girls is well, impossible. He's been through braces (the most expensive metal on earth), kissing (do they have to use their lips?), teen "logic" ("I asked if I could go out with Lindsey and you said no, so I went out with Courtney"), and, of course, dating, which leads to the 8 Simple Rules. (Rule #1: if you pull into my driveway and honk, you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure as heck not picking anything up.)
If your little girl has moved out and a teenager has taken her place, this book will help you do something you probably thought was not possible in your situation: laugh.