Rad Dads Claim Parenting "as a Political Territory"

​For some people, having a baby is like climbing into a slingshot aimed toward mainstream culture, which is often a relief: No more foraging for urban greens, making coffee for three hours, and having a stance on vinyl. But for parents for whom the "radical lifestyle" is much more than simply waiting in line for ice cream -- polyamorous anarchist city farmers expecting twins, for example -- Tomas Moniz' Bay Area zine, Rad Dad, is a lifesaver.

Moniz appears Thursday at the Booksmith with a couple of other Rad Dads -- but more on the "book" part in minute.

Where were we? On yes. The zine. Virtually any topic freethinking fathers and their non-normative co-caregivers might desire to challenge -- gender roles, patriarchy, Elmo -- can be found in those pages, dating back to 2005. Rad Dad has since become a blog, naturally, but Sept. 1 heralds a new publishing form: the book.

Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood, by Moniz and Jeremy Adam Smith, contains a best-of selection from the zine and Smith's blog, Daddy Dialectic. Exploring parenting "as a political territory," as Moniz writes in the introduction, the book features names you wouldn't normally find in the daddy genre, including authors Steve Almond and Cory Doctorow, musician Ian McKaye, and local interdisciplinary artist Keith Hennessy, who writes about his experience donating his sperm to a lesbian couple.

If buying a gender-neutral pacifier is the most radical thing you've done as a parent, Rad Dad will nudge you back on track.

The reading starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Booksmith.