In Fragments of a Decent Man, Christopher Parent delivers 18 sharply observed, darkly funny, and emotionally resonant essays about trying -- and often failing -- to be a good man in a world that rarely rewards vulnerability. With deep dives into the absurdities of ordinary life -- parenting, marriage, ambition, failure -- this collection peers into the quiet corners of manhood where decency lives and struggles to survive.

Parent explores the loss of his father, the impact of being fired from a job, the sadness of seeing his daughter rejected from college, the complications of marriage, and lessons from running a Marathon and visiting a Belgian Trappist monastery. It's one author's take on how accepting life's overtures, which can be offered under the guise of roadblocks and challenges, shaped the portrait of a man who met decent people along the way.

The essays move through fatherhood, friendship, shame, grief, anger, softness, and survival with a voice that is open-hearted, self-aware, and frequently dry-witted. Stylistically, the collection sits somewhere between Sloane Crosley and Harrison Scott Key, with moments of nostalgia and grit that echo The Tender Bar. Beneath it all is a consistent thread: how do we live as whole men -- vulnerable, conflicted, decent -- without apology or disguise?

Though deeply personal, the essays aim at something universal. These are stories about becoming a father while struggling to understand the relationship Parent had with his own, about regret, repair, and the long arc of trying to do better.

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• Biographies & MemoirsMemoirs
• Biographies & MemoirsTravel

• Publication Date: December 21, 2025
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 205 Pages
• File Size: 21 KB