Lest you were conceived in a Petri dish, you will relish 40 Fathers. The book speaks to any and all sons and daughters, of every age and persuasion. Good fathers, foul fathers, indifferent fathers, saints, absent ones, and sinners, all get a full hearing in this astonishing survey of one of the main relationships in life. Sample any two or three entries in this startling collection, and you will find yourself holding your breath (and weeping– or cheering) in wonder at the depth of the insights. Each one offers a clue about a parent who made us whole.

Who would I be if my father had been someone else? This startling and beautiful book is a valiant attempt to answer this universal and searching question by mining the recollections of forty sons and daughters from every imaginable background. Readers will be able to follow these extraordinary people in the quest we all have, to know more of the male parent who brought us into this world.

The portraits, including those of the authors themselves (social scientist Jess Maghan and photographer Sam Lindberg), are limited to 350 of the subjects own words. The recollection of each father, accompanied by archival photographs, is paired with a deeply moving evaluation of the son or daughter’s heritage, and illustrated by a contemporary portrait. The result of years of research, this book is unlike any other study published. Readers, like the people in the book, will be richly rewarded by renewed intimacy with their fathers.

Noted photographer Sam Lindberg teams up with social scientist Jess Maghan to profile forty fathers from every imaginable background. The portraits, including those of the authors themselves, are limited to 350 of the subjects own words. The recollection of each father, accompanied by archival photographs, is paired with a deeply moving evaluation of the son or daughter’s heritage, and illustrated by a contemporary portrait by Sam.

Sam Lindberg has had a long career as a professional photographer, having collaborated with Irving Penn and other distinguished artists. Jess Maghan recently retired as professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois, before which he was deputy commissioner of police in charge of training at the New York City Police Department. He continues to advise governments and police departments around the world on such matters as illicit trafficking and terrorism.

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