Fathers and Children

In Fathers and Children, Charles Sullivan shows that there are many different ways to complete the following statement: "Two of the most [fill in the blank] roles in life are being a child's father and being a father's child." Indeed, a variety of possible answers are suggested in this beautifully illustrated volume, an insightful, provocative collection of literature and art portraying fathers and fatherhood through the ages. Sullivan has thoughtfully selected over 100 poems, quotations, and passages of prose and paired them with paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures to illustrate the broad range of thoughts and feelings that may be experienced by fathers and their children, as they take part in one of the most basic, yet complex, human relationships.

Elegantly presented, Fathers and Children is visually rich, humorous and pensive, poignant yet refreshingly unsentimental. The result is an abundant assortment of verbal and visual images that reveals the universal fascination with fathers and their relationships with children as a subject in literature and art. Biographical notes give the reader background information on the artists and writers represented in Fathers and Children.