How to Be a Family

The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together

By: Dan Kois

Narrated by: Dan Kois

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

In this "funny and honest" (Pamela Druckerman) memoir, Slate editor Dan Kois sets out with his family on a journey around the world to change their lives together.

What happens when one frustrated dad turns his kids' lives upside down in search of a new way to be a family?

Dan Kois and his wife always did their best for their kids. Busy professionals living in the D.C. suburbs, they scheduled their children's time wisely, and when they weren't arguing over screen time, the Kois family - Dan, his wife Alia, and their two pre-teen daughters - could each be found searching for their own happiness. But aren't families supposed to achieve happiness together?

In this eye-opening, heartwarming, and very funny family memoir, the fractious, loving Kois' go in search of other places on the map that might offer them the chance to live away from home - but closer together. Over a year the family lands in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small-town Kansas. The goal? To get out of their rut of busyness and distractedness and to see how other families live outside the East Coast parenting bubble.

How to Be a Family brings listeners along as the Kois girls - witty, solitary, extremely online Lyra and goofy, sensitive, social butterfly Harper - walk through the Kiwi bush, ride bikes to a Dutch school in the pouring rain, battle iguanas in their Costa Rican kitchen, and learn to love a town where everyone knows your name. Meanwhile, Dan interviews neighbors, public officials, and scholars to learn why each of these places work the way they do. Will this trip change the Kois family's lives? Or do families take their problems and conflicts with them wherever we go?

A journalistic memoir filled with heart, empathy, and lots of whining, How to Be a Family will make listeners dream about the amazing adventures their own families might take.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Dan Kois (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Might remind cinema-minded readers of the end of Bill Forsyth's 1983 film Local Hero...nicely tuned-in observations befitting a keen-eyed journalist." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Kois and his family actually take the dizzying leap to leave behind their lives for a year-a trek that takes them from New Zealand to Kansas-and the result is a unique book that every overstressed and anxious (meaning = every) parent should read." (The Millions)

"How To Be a Family is a witty, surprising and compulsively readable book. You may find yourself planning a geographical cure of your own by the time you reach the end of it. But Kois is too thoughtful a writer to dwell only on the transformative possibilities of such a trip. Nothing is quite as his family imagined it would be and this leads the book into exhilarating, emotionally complex territory." (Jenny Offill, author of Department of Speculation)

Good Read, couldn’t put it down

Fun book that lets you travel vicariously on this family adventure. Get to know the Kois family and the ups and downs of life on the road. Detailed accounts of Living in New Zealand, Netherlands, Costa Rica, and Kansas provide a different perspective than vacation travel.

Great performance good listen

I liked the how Dan spoke different accents at times. I also enjoyed hearing everyone’s voice and opinions not just Dan’s. I did expect a bit more adventure but I am pleased to have learned the good, the bad (the difference) in the cultures explored.

Really enjoyed! Funny, Good narration.

I love to travel but don't really like kids (haha) so I wasn't sure I would like this. But I loved it . So thought provoking about how other countries value their time, money and family life. I feel like I took this trip too and so much better for it. Thank you Dan Kois and family!

Interesting but poorly narrated

I enjoyed reading about this family's adventures living in several different cultures and environments. The family was relatable and the author had a dry sense of humor. Unfortunately, he mumbled at the end of about 50% of the sentences, talked too quickly at other times, and too softly at others. A professional reader who could capture the sensibility of the author would have rated a 5-star review.

Rare insight into parenting around the world

This masterfully narrated book provides a glimpse into cultures of childhood and parenting from around the world. The first hand experiences of the Kois family—and Dan’s raw honesty about those experiences—offer a personable and enjoyable foray into the topic. The sections on New Zealand and the Netherlands are especially compelling and insightful. They had me rethinking my own family’s functioning and how it is influenced by American society. I highly recommend listeners who want to continue to hang with Dan during his parenting journey check out the Slate podcast Mom and Dad Are Fighting, which he cohosts.

Enjoyed it even more than I expected!

I was genuinely bummed to see this book end. I found it so comforting, so interesting, and so gently humorous, that I don’t know what to do with myself now! Such an honest and down to earth portrayal of family. Not an ounce of pretentiousness. I’m jealous that the girls will have such a cool record of a year in their family’s life to treasure forever! When they’re old enough to not be too cool for it, of course :) Great work and I hope you’ll write more like this!!

Entertaining Read

This book was an easy listen and came recommended by a local mom. The premise was intriguing and I learned quite a bit about raising children in New Zealand and Delft. The second part of the book seems to come apart a bit from the original premise but was engaging enough to keep me listening. The narration is interspersed with the mom and kids on occasion but it is clearly Dan's perspective that pervades the narrative. I would recommend it and it kept my interest but it wasn't life changing.

An Extraordinary Leap by an Average Family

I really love getting an intimate glimpse into this every-day American family doing something completely atypical, leaving everything behind to travel the world in hopes of finding something we all strive for, how to live a happy and balanced family life.

I think Dan (and his wife and kids’ also) were very real and honest about their feelings, experiences, triumphs and fails. Traveling as a family isn’t always amazing and never easy. While it sounds like a fantasy, Dan’s book shows there are complications and frustrations, just like at home. They had several incredible experiences throughout their year, that made it seem all worthwhile.

Also, I really appreciated his heart warming summary and reflections at the end.

Accurate

This book was realistic, interesting and funny. I enjoyed this family‘s journey and appreciated all of the humor and cultural insights. Good job.

loved it

I've listened to Dan for years on his podcast and have been looking forward to the publication of his book. It was funny and insightful - Dan did a great job reading it and loved the bits with the rest of his family speaking. I could relate to so much and found myself laughing and nodding throughout the book. Loved hearing about other countries and how they live and parent.