The [INSERT JOB TITLE]'s Daughter
August 7, 2013 5:47 AM Subscribe
"I was curious to see how many of these books there actually are, so I did a search for books with 'The' and 'Daughter' in their titles on Goodreads. Afterward I spent some time copying and pasting all instances of The ___’s Daughter into an Excel spreadsheet. How much time? A lot..."
(Note: Essay from last year, so I expect between novels renamed to fit the mold, and recently published daughters of somebody or another, there are probably at least a bajillion times as many titular daughters swanning around today.)
(Note: Essay from last year, so I expect between novels renamed to fit the mold, and recently published daughters of somebody or another, there are probably at least a bajillion times as many titular daughters swanning around today.)
Are 'She Was Only A [SOMETHING'S] Daughter' jokes a thing over that side of the pond? (NSFW)
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:55 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:55 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dibs on "The Daughter's Daughter."
My literary career is assured!
posted by Naberius at 6:00 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
My literary career is assured!
posted by Naberius at 6:00 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Likewise on "The Parent's Daughter". I'm big into generic fiction.
The great thing about having a music player with a SQL backend is that you can find all the patterns. "____ Blues" songs in my collection? 381, and that's not including that old barrelhouse moaner I Guess That’s Why They Call It The ...
posted by scruss at 6:11 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The great thing about having a music player with a SQL backend is that you can find all the patterns. "____ Blues" songs in my collection? 381, and that's not including that old barrelhouse moaner I Guess That’s Why They Call It The ...
posted by scruss at 6:11 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
I read The Hangman's Daughter on my Kindle. It was pretty good.
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:12 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:12 AM on August 7, 2013
The Barrelhouse Moaner's Daughter
posted by griphus at 6:12 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by griphus at 6:12 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
This is great! I've always hated those "The [Serious Person Title]'s Daughter", not least because there aren't a lot of novels where a woman gets to be the apostate or the general or the murderer or the vegan baker or whatever at all, and especially few books where a woman gets to be the apostate, general, etc without the whole book revolving around the fact that she is a woman! being an apostate! and dealing with its ramifications for her femininity and relationships...whereas all the women I've met who've had intense and/or hard-ass careers have been far more concerned with the day-to-day of the career than anything else.
Also, it irritates me because it suggests that the daughter's identity revolves around her relationship to (or overcoming her dependency on, etc) the actual apostate or general.
I wonder if these speak to two things: (and I'd argue that these novels are women's novels - I'm sure men occasionally read them, but they're as much a women's genre as urban fantasy) first, the way that many women really do feel like they live in the shadow of their husband/boss/family (and it sounds much more glamorous to write about the husband/boss/family in the guise of something exciting/romantic/loomingly horrible) or else because women feel more comfortable defining themselves in those relationships. Like, being a general is unlikely and scary; much better to have a secure, blood-defined relationship to power. (Or maybe this whole thing is about kinship and the middle class sense of rootlessness? You're "the general's daughter" and your life is pretty much solved, right there.)
Maybe I could write one called "The Generals' Daughter", which would be about the brilliant West Point career of a girl who was the child of two generals.
posted by Frowner at 6:14 AM on August 7, 2013 [19 favorites]
Also, it irritates me because it suggests that the daughter's identity revolves around her relationship to (or overcoming her dependency on, etc) the actual apostate or general.
I wonder if these speak to two things: (and I'd argue that these novels are women's novels - I'm sure men occasionally read them, but they're as much a women's genre as urban fantasy) first, the way that many women really do feel like they live in the shadow of their husband/boss/family (and it sounds much more glamorous to write about the husband/boss/family in the guise of something exciting/romantic/loomingly horrible) or else because women feel more comfortable defining themselves in those relationships. Like, being a general is unlikely and scary; much better to have a secure, blood-defined relationship to power. (Or maybe this whole thing is about kinship and the middle class sense of rootlessness? You're "the general's daughter" and your life is pretty much solved, right there.)
Maybe I could write one called "The Generals' Daughter", which would be about the brilliant West Point career of a girl who was the child of two generals.
posted by Frowner at 6:14 AM on August 7, 2013 [19 favorites]
Someone needs to do a parallel search with "son" to see how big the difference is.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:15 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:15 AM on August 7, 2013
Similar (probably not as widespread) pattern: "[Present participle verb] [First or last name]".
E.g., Regarding Henry, Losing Isaiah, etc.
posted by Eyebeams at 6:19 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
E.g., Regarding Henry, Losing Isaiah, etc.
posted by Eyebeams at 6:19 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Maybe I could write one called "The Generals' Daughter", which would be about the brilliant West Point career of a girl who was the child of two generals.
Just make sure Greg Hale Jones does the soundtrack and I'll buy a copy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:19 AM on August 7, 2013
Just make sure Greg Hale Jones does the soundtrack and I'll buy a copy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:19 AM on August 7, 2013
I have been noticing the 'X's wife' trend for a while now, but didn't realise that the daughter thing was so prevalent.
posted by dhruva at 6:20 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by dhruva at 6:20 AM on August 7, 2013
I wonder if "Iron Dragon" counts as a "title".
Similar (probably not as widespread) pattern: "[Present participle verb] [First or last name]".
I noticed this in movie titles a long time ago. Chasing Amy. Raising Arizona. Kissing Jessica Stein. And on and on.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 6:23 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Similar (probably not as widespread) pattern: "[Present participle verb] [First or last name]".
I noticed this in movie titles a long time ago. Chasing Amy. Raising Arizona. Kissing Jessica Stein. And on and on.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 6:23 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Metafilter's Daughter
posted by Billiken at 6:26 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Billiken at 6:26 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Huh. Amazon has literally (and I mean that) just emailed to recommend that I might like "The Detective's Daughter". (Having read the description, I am leaning towards...no, due to similar reasoning as Frowner's comment)
posted by halcyonday at 6:27 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by halcyonday at 6:27 AM on August 7, 2013
Just because a given set of data is wildly unscientific and woefully incomplete, does that mean it shouldn’t be graphed? No. It does not.No, but you also shouldn't publish it.
Also, that graph needs to be normalized against the total number of books listed on Goodreads for that year. I'd have to imagine that Goodreads' database is biased toward books that were recently published, and that the self-publishing boom has gradually increased the number of books published each year.
There's probably still a good point to be made here, but this is an incredibly sloppy error that undermines the point of the entire article.
posted by schmod at 6:31 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Maybe I could write one called "The Generals' Daughter", which would be about the brilliant West Point career of a girl who was the child of two generals.
I couldn't think of a better way to continue the Ender's Game saga.
posted by griphus at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2013
I couldn't think of a better way to continue the Ender's Game saga.
posted by griphus at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2013
The Secret Life of Daughters
posted by swift at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by swift at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2013 [8 favorites]
The use of numbers does not necessarily confer the mantle of science done well or badly. If science needs to be done, there's enough of a premise here for somebody to follow through with appropriate rigor.
Sometimes a chart or graph only means, "Hey, here's an interesting thing."
posted by ardgedee at 6:37 AM on August 7, 2013
Sometimes a chart or graph only means, "Hey, here's an interesting thing."
posted by ardgedee at 6:37 AM on August 7, 2013
I have been noticing the 'X's wife' trend for a while now,
Info on the 'X's wife' is the other half of my quest. I actually came upon this essay while trying to search for background on both The ___'s Daughter and The ___'s Wife titles (hard to search!), because these have both been seriously bugging me for years now; I want to know which novels were such massive successes that they became the prototypes for this particular female-relative-of-the-right-age-to-be-potentially-hot* fill-in-the-blank title thingy.
* Well, I think that's it, even though these are mostly by and for women. There are essentially no "The Landscape Architect's Aunt" or "The Woodcutter's Grandma," etc.
posted by taz at 6:38 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Info on the 'X's wife' is the other half of my quest. I actually came upon this essay while trying to search for background on both The ___'s Daughter and The ___'s Wife titles (hard to search!), because these have both been seriously bugging me for years now; I want to know which novels were such massive successes that they became the prototypes for this particular female-relative-of-the-right-age-to-be-potentially-hot* fill-in-the-blank title thingy.
* Well, I think that's it, even though these are mostly by and for women. There are essentially no "The Landscape Architect's Aunt" or "The Woodcutter's Grandma," etc.
posted by taz at 6:38 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wifebound: The American Daughter: A Novel A Daughter, American Adventure.
posted by The Whelk at 6:40 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:40 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Secret Life of Daughters
The Secret Life of the Artisan's Daughter's Wife
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 6:42 AM on August 7, 2013 [12 favorites]
The Secret Life of the Artisan's Daughter's Wife
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 6:42 AM on August 7, 2013 [12 favorites]
The Cook's Daughter, The Thief's Daughter, His Wife's Daughter and Her Lover's Daughter.
posted by griphus at 6:44 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by griphus at 6:44 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
The Secret Life of Daughters
That's an elevator pitch, right there.
The first graph in the article is scary. It's going parabolic. We're approaching the Daughter Singularity.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:46 AM on August 7, 2013
That's an elevator pitch, right there.
The first graph in the article is scary. It's going parabolic. We're approaching the Daughter Singularity.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:46 AM on August 7, 2013
Keepers of either inns or lighthouses: ~12. Heh.
I told Isabel to call it The Fortune's Daughter but she was all, "I am not into using grammatical chicanery just to fit into a trend that hasn't even yet been noticed, it now being 1999!" and we parted ways.
posted by psoas at 6:46 AM on August 7, 2013
I told Isabel to call it The Fortune's Daughter but she was all, "I am not into using grammatical chicanery just to fit into a trend that hasn't even yet been noticed, it now being 1999!" and we parted ways.
posted by psoas at 6:46 AM on August 7, 2013
What about the other way?
The Daughter's Thief.
The Daughter's General.
The Daughter's Metafilter.
posted by curious nu at 6:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Daughter's Thief.
The Daughter's General.
The Daughter's Metafilter.
posted by curious nu at 6:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Traveling Salesman's Daughter's Problem -- what is the most efficient route when you never get to leave the house?
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wow, I never would have guessed there were so many instances. What an interesting phenomenon.
The construction would make good names for sequels, like "son of" for movies. The Great Gatsby's Daughter. Jane Eyre's Daughter. Moby Dick's Daughter.
posted by painquale at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013
The construction would make good names for sequels, like "son of" for movies. The Great Gatsby's Daughter. Jane Eyre's Daughter. Moby Dick's Daughter.
posted by painquale at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013
He was my son. Now she is my daughter.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:49 AM on August 7, 2013
My sister, my daughter, my sister, my daughter!
posted by The Whelk at 6:52 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:52 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
You know there's these dolls that I really hate called Monster High dolls or something like that. Anyway, there's a ton of things wrong with them, but the one that bugs me the most is that all of them are "________'s Daughter." My daughter has an existence outside her relationship to me. I mean, I get that it's probably a play on "Son of Monster Returns" movie titles, but still...
posted by Gygesringtone at 6:53 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Gygesringtone at 6:53 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Sisters Brother's Daughter.
posted by Kabanos at 6:56 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Kabanos at 6:56 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Pole Dancer's Daughter needs to be on the list? Quick, someone get writing.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:00 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by cjorgensen at 7:00 AM on August 7, 2013
"The Sys Admin's Daughter" doesn't have the same zip, you know?
posted by The Whelk at 7:03 AM on August 7, 2013 [13 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:03 AM on August 7, 2013 [13 favorites]
Less a play on "Son of Monster Returns" and more that "Dracula's Daughter" tells you more about the doll than "Sally".
posted by five fresh fish at 7:06 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by five fresh fish at 7:06 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is there a Daugherty's Daughter yet? Because surely there's a sweeping thousand-year tale of powerful romantic Irish somethingorotherness to be sold under that title.
posted by pracowity at 7:08 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by pracowity at 7:08 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Okay, the word "daughter" is starting to look really weird to me.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:08 AM on August 7, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:08 AM on August 7, 2013 [10 favorites]
Now’s as good a time as any to announce my forthcoming magnum opus in five volumes: The Assistant Vice President’s Daughter; The Vice President’s Daughter; The Senior Vice President’s Daughter; The Executive Vice President’s Daughter; culminating in the explosive series finale: The Senior Executive Vice President’s Daughter.
posted by misteraitch at 7:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by misteraitch at 7:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
Finding the Secret Life of the Daughter's Wife
posted by oddman at 7:14 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by oddman at 7:14 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
"The Sys Admin's Daughter" doesn't have the same zip, you know?
Tragically, neither does The Postman's Daughter.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Tragically, neither does The Postman's Daughter.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dibs on "The Guy Who Really Wanted a Son's Daughter."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [6 favorites]
"I'm My Own Granddaughter"
posted by ardgedee at 7:17 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 7:17 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Less a play on "Son of Monster Returns" and more that "Dracula's Daughter" tells you more about the doll than "Sally".
Well, yeah, but it's not any information that isn't conveyed by the doll itself. You don't need to know that Sally is Dracula's daughter to know that she's a vampire. Hell even the Mad Scientist's Daughter is pretty clearly a mad scientist, lab coat, crazy hair and all.
The same goes for the books, if the story's about Sally's life, then the title should be about Sally too, not Sally's Father's Job. We'll figure out what he does if the author's halfway competent.
posted by Gygesringtone at 7:18 AM on August 7, 2013
Well, yeah, but it's not any information that isn't conveyed by the doll itself. You don't need to know that Sally is Dracula's daughter to know that she's a vampire. Hell even the Mad Scientist's Daughter is pretty clearly a mad scientist, lab coat, crazy hair and all.
The same goes for the books, if the story's about Sally's life, then the title should be about Sally too, not Sally's Father's Job. We'll figure out what he does if the author's halfway competent.
posted by Gygesringtone at 7:18 AM on August 7, 2013
The Polka Daughter.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:19 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by five fresh fish at 7:19 AM on August 7, 2013 [9 favorites]
"Grady, I took another look at The Arsonist's Daughter the other night. That description of the bald cypress left me breathless."
posted by Iridic at 7:20 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Iridic at 7:20 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Okay, the word "daughter" is starting to look really weird to me.
Just give it the British pronunciation of "dafter".
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Just give it the British pronunciation of "dafter".
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Really it's about trying to seem "alternative," isn't it? "Whoa, *normally* an author in this hetero-normative society would write a book centered on some *seemingly-important* character like a general or an alchemist, but -- what's this?! -- the book is about his DAUGHTER?! Ha ha, Mary Jenkins-Wilkinson III, you've done it again!"
posted by Mooseli at 7:24 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Mooseli at 7:24 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
Oh course the first thing I did with that list was replace "daughter" with "rear end" in my head, because I am ten years old.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:30 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by hydrophonic at 7:30 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
I would read the above mentioned "The Vegan Baker's Daughter" if it was a horror story of some childless person's creepy vegan baked female gingerbread child who, in order to maintain a human appearance, had to be fed freshly slaughtered flesh every single day in growing amounts such that the vegan baker began to have a terrible crisis of conscience.
posted by elizardbits at 7:31 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 7:31 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Chrysostom: "Okay, the word "daughter" is starting to look really weird to me"
That's semantic satiation, and it happened to me too, about halfway through this thread.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
That's semantic satiation, and it happened to me too, about halfway through this thread.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Timetraveler's Daughter: OK, It's Really the Time Traveler, and His Wife, and Some Other People, Too, Because This Is One of Those Somewhat Skeevy Robert Heinlein/Spider Robinson Kind of Books
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I didn't realise until this trend, but it never occurs to me that the ______ in those books could be the mother. Is it ever the mother? Is the ______'s wife ever married to a woman? I would read those books.
posted by jeather at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jeather at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Itsy Bitsy Teensy Weeny Yellow Polka Daughter's Bikini. It's about an innovative fashion designer — the child of a jaundiced, midget immigrant from Bohemia — and her trials and tribulations as she tries to make it big in the world of beachwear. The story will be made into a TV movie starring the gang from Baywatch.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:33 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by five fresh fish at 7:33 AM on August 7, 2013
I've read a few books with this sort of title, and the usual story seems to be that the heroine starts out as the miner's/general's/gravedigger's daughter, but ends up forging a life and identity different from what she might have expected given her beginnings.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:34 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:34 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Printer's Dotter, the story documenting the rise of a piblishing magnate from her humble beginnings in the printshop, manually dotting the i's and crossing the t's on pages coming off her father's ancient and somewhat cantankerous linotype press.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:37 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by five fresh fish at 7:37 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code's Daughter
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 7:37 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 7:37 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I would read the above mentioned "The Vegan Baker's Daughter" if it was a horror story of some childless person's creepy vegan baked female gingerbread child who, in order to maintain a human appearance, had to be fed freshly slaughtered flesh every single day in growing amounts such that the vegan baker began to have a terrible crisis of conscience.
I was kind of hoping for a romance between the vegan daughter of a baker and the daughter of a vegan baker. It could be a star-crossed tale of young rebellion against parental expectations and dietary habits!
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:38 AM on August 7, 2013
I was kind of hoping for a romance between the vegan daughter of a baker and the daughter of a vegan baker. It could be a star-crossed tale of young rebellion against parental expectations and dietary habits!
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:38 AM on August 7, 2013
I'm totally writing a book with the title "Your Mom's Daughter" or maybe "Your Daughter's Daughter".
posted by nooneyouknow at 7:41 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by nooneyouknow at 7:41 AM on August 7, 2013
the best never written book is still Harry Potter And The Chamber Of State Secrets
posted by The Whelk at 7:42 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 7:42 AM on August 7, 2013
The Call of Cthulhu's Daughter
The Doom that Came to Sarnath's Daughter
The Dunwich Horror's Daughter
posted by oulipian at 7:44 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Doom that Came to Sarnath's Daughter
The Dunwich Horror's Daughter
posted by oulipian at 7:44 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Daughter Of The Mountains Of Madness.
posted by The Whelk at 7:45 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 7:45 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
It is actually a fact that by sticking the word "woman" in front of any occupation you name a Japanese drama that already exists. Casual searches Reveal this works for prosecutor (twice), defense attorney (also twice; "The 7 Lady Defense Attorneys"), judge, doctor (literal title "Woman Doctor", subtitle - in English - NOTHING LASTS FOREVER). There are too many shows called "Woman Police Officer" to count. I couldn't find a series called "Woman Detective" (it seems popular with real detective agencies), but there is one called Housewife Detective.
posted by 23 at 7:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by 23 at 7:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Sounds like a good opportunity for someone to invest in one of those fancy new TLDs!
domainnamespeculators.her
artisanalcheesemakers.her
ferriswheelrepairmans.her
professionalwhitebackgroundpainters.her
retiredunitednationsweaponsinspectors.her
genealogists.her
posted by oulipian at 8:03 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
domainnamespeculators.her
artisanalcheesemakers.her
ferriswheelrepairmans.her
professionalwhitebackgroundpainters.her
retiredunitednationsweaponsinspectors.her
genealogists.her
posted by oulipian at 8:03 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Harry's Paughter
posted by Hairy Lobster at 8:15 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Hairy Lobster at 8:15 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
As Harold Bloom once said, the key to reading is not what to read (eg. a specific list of titles), but what not to read. I imagine there are some good books in this Daughter's pile, but it seems like an easy Heuristic technique to just avoid them (given no other information).
posted by stbalbach at 8:28 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by stbalbach at 8:28 AM on August 7, 2013
I've always presumed the __________ is the father, too. Just like how most children's books set on farms have the farmer and his wife, not the farmer and the other farmer.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:29 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:29 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Farmer And The Farmer, an epic story of same-sex apple orchard romance.
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Farmer and the Other Farmer's Daughter. Wait, that sounds wrong.
But even in the context of kids' books, where it's probably going to be a straight couple, surely both the husband and wife are going to be farmers. Does anyone live on a farm and not work as a farmer? I am a city person, I know nothing of these exotic lifestyles.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:41 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
But even in the context of kids' books, where it's probably going to be a straight couple, surely both the husband and wife are going to be farmers. Does anyone live on a farm and not work as a farmer? I am a city person, I know nothing of these exotic lifestyles.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:41 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well, there's some division of labor there, I think. We've been reading the Little House books - which I realize aren't completely factual, but I think fairly describe the patterns of daily life of pre-mechanized farming - and Pa's job is farmer. He's out there all day, plowing, planting, etc. Ma's job is primarily in the house: preparing meals, sewing, cleaning.
Now certainly, Ma also does farmer type stuff, especially when Pa is swamped, and she handles it solo when he leaves looking for work. But I think it would be fair to call them farmer and maybe...assistant farmer? Farmer/domestic worker?
Having some farm relatives in the family, that still seems true to some extent today (at least as the general rule, I know there are other patterns). The husband is the 100% full time farmer, and the wife is a combo of home chores and farm work.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 AM on August 7, 2013
Now certainly, Ma also does farmer type stuff, especially when Pa is swamped, and she handles it solo when he leaves looking for work. But I think it would be fair to call them farmer and maybe...assistant farmer? Farmer/domestic worker?
Having some farm relatives in the family, that still seems true to some extent today (at least as the general rule, I know there are other patterns). The husband is the 100% full time farmer, and the wife is a combo of home chores and farm work.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 AM on August 7, 2013
...it never occurs to me that the ______ in those books could be the mother.
I can't operate on this patient; it's my son!
posted by carmicha at 9:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
I can't operate on this patient; it's my son!
posted by carmicha at 9:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
The Farmer And The Farmer, an epic story of same-sex apple orchard romance.
The is is going to get confused with The Farm and the Farm, the sequel to Miéville's The City and the City. involving a murder on a farm that may actually be a different farm, with goats instead of cows.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:11 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
The is is going to get confused with The Farm and the Farm, the sequel to Miéville's The City and the City. involving a murder on a farm that may actually be a different farm, with goats instead of cows.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:11 AM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
The Goat Murderer's Daughter
posted by taz at 9:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by taz at 9:16 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
"The Sys Admin's Daughter" doesn't have the same zip, you know?
It's better than "The Spreadsheet's Daughter."
Or is it?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:19 AM on August 7, 2013
It's better than "The Spreadsheet's Daughter."
Or is it?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:19 AM on August 7, 2013
Time to get started on The Procrastinator's Daughter about the father who never gets around to telling his daughter... something. Oh, who am I kidding...
posted by carmicha at 9:22 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 9:22 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Generals Dodder, about a group of generals who are really getting too old for this sort of thing.
posted by Itaxpica at 9:24 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Itaxpica at 9:24 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
There's also a lot of stuff with "American" in the title awhile which I always found funny.
posted by Green With You at 9:25 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Green With You at 9:25 AM on August 7, 2013
Sounds like a good opportunity for someone to invest in one of those fancy new TLDs!
thecoalminers.her?
- - - -
Also, Nelson Demille already wrote a (pretty trashy) book called "The General's Daughter" that was made into an equally-trashy movie starring John Travolta.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:35 AM on August 7, 2013
thecoalminers.her?
- - - -
Also, Nelson Demille already wrote a (pretty trashy) book called "The General's Daughter" that was made into an equally-trashy movie starring John Travolta.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:35 AM on August 7, 2013
whereas all the women I've met who've had intense and/or hard-ass careers have been far more concerned with the day-to-day of the career than anything else.
Fifty Shades of Exxon Mobil's Daughter's Secret Life of Leaning In
posted by dubusadus at 9:47 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Fifty Shades of Exxon Mobil's Daughter's Secret Life of Leaning In
posted by dubusadus at 9:47 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I remember someone making a similar, broader point, with the template: The [Unusual Profession]'s [Female Relative].
That said, I loved The Sisters Brothers
I was the only person in my book club who liked The Time Traveler's Wife (Though I guess it was treated more like an affliction than a profession).
And I *loved* The Bonesetters Daughter
Kabanos, I would preorder The Sisters Brother's Daughter. RIGHT NOW!
posted by MoxieProxy at 10:12 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
That said, I loved The Sisters Brothers
I was the only person in my book club who liked The Time Traveler's Wife (Though I guess it was treated more like an affliction than a profession).
And I *loved* The Bonesetters Daughter
Kabanos, I would preorder The Sisters Brother's Daughter. RIGHT NOW!
posted by MoxieProxy at 10:12 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Secret Life of the American Publisher's Daughter
posted by anthom at 10:21 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by anthom at 10:21 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
My wife tells me The Hummingbird's Daughter is a wonderful book; she's been trying to get me to read it for ages. I wouldn't write off the whole category!
posted by Pistache at 10:22 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Pistache at 10:22 AM on August 7, 2013
88 comments in, and no mention of Coal Miner's Daughter?
posted by Ratio at 10:51 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Ratio at 10:51 AM on August 7, 2013
Kabanos, I would preorder The Sisters Brother's Daughter. RIGHT NOW!
That's the best sequel idea in a long time. Except for...
Son of the Sisters Brother's Daughter.
posted by GuyZero at 10:52 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
That's the best sequel idea in a long time. Except for...
Son of the Sisters Brother's Daughter.
posted by GuyZero at 10:52 AM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
My Aunt's Sister's Daughter: An Autobiography.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:55 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by five fresh fish at 10:55 AM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Son of the Sisters Brother's Daughter.
That would be the third in the trilogy, no? (Followed by The Sisters Brother's Silmarillion, which everyone buys, but no one reads.)
posted by MoxieProxy at 11:08 AM on August 7, 2013
That would be the third in the trilogy, no? (Followed by The Sisters Brother's Silmarillion, which everyone buys, but no one reads.)
posted by MoxieProxy at 11:08 AM on August 7, 2013
The First Lord of the Admiralty’s Female Relatives: And We Were his Sisters, and his Cousins, and his Aunts!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:09 AM on August 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
"See that princess standing there, so haughty and confident. They say she has pretensions of a literary nature. Let us hope she finds solace in such things; she'll have little else." A bitter laugh escaped Jessica. "Think on it, Chani: that princess will have the name, yet she'll live as less than a concubine — never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she's bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine — history will call us wives."
posted by Chrysostom at 11:38 AM on August 7, 2013
posted by Chrysostom at 11:38 AM on August 7, 2013
The Virgin's Daughter
...did I blow your mind???
posted by rmless at 11:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
...did I blow your mind???
posted by rmless at 11:48 AM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Dotty Drafter's Daughter's Doughty Daughter
posted by BlueHorse at 12:02 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by BlueHorse at 12:02 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Are 'She Was Only A [SOMETHING'S] Daughter' jokes a thing over that side of the pond? (NSFW)
Great stuff but can't believe it's missing "General's daughter, but she knew what regiment."
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:42 PM on August 7, 2013
Great stuff but can't believe it's missing "General's daughter, but she knew what regiment."
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:42 PM on August 7, 2013
Okay, the word "daughter" is starting to look really weird to me.
I always thought it looks like a verb. To daught. Daught-dote-doted.
posted by zardoz at 2:51 PM on August 7, 2013
I always thought it looks like a verb. To daught. Daught-dote-doted.
posted by zardoz at 2:51 PM on August 7, 2013
Interviewer: So, you called your autobiography The Ragman's Son...
Kirk Douglas: [nods]
Interview: Tell me, Kirk - just who was this "Ragman?"
Kirk Douglas: Uh...my father.
posted by Iridic at 2:59 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Kirk Douglas: [nods]
Interview: Tell me, Kirk - just who was this "Ragman?"
Kirk Douglas: Uh...my father.
posted by Iridic at 2:59 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Incredible String Band got there before almost everyone else, with The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter.
(Which is an amazing album that you should go and buy, btw.)
posted by Len at 3:23 PM on August 7, 2013
(Which is an amazing album that you should go and buy, btw.)
posted by Len at 3:23 PM on August 7, 2013
The Time Traveler's Her Own Daughter
posted by chortly at 3:30 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by chortly at 3:30 PM on August 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Even power pop bands performing under pseudonyms get in on this. And who knows what can come out of it?
posted by droplet at 8:19 PM on August 7, 2013
posted by droplet at 8:19 PM on August 7, 2013
Interviewer: So, you called your autobiography The Ragman's Son...
Kirk Douglas: [nods]
Interview: Tell me, Kirk - just who was this "Ragman?"
Kirk Douglas: Uh...my father.
Wow, does that ever sound like a bit from Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:29 PM on August 7, 2013
Kirk Douglas: [nods]
Interview: Tell me, Kirk - just who was this "Ragman?"
Kirk Douglas: Uh...my father.
Wow, does that ever sound like a bit from Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:29 PM on August 7, 2013
My Father's Father, an autobiography
by Philip J. Fry
posted by anthom at 5:22 AM on August 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
by Philip J. Fry
posted by anthom at 5:22 AM on August 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code's Daughter
The problem with this is that 5 out of 7 HP books follow the "Harry Potter and The _____ of _____", so it'd have to be Harry Potter and the Daughter of the Di Vinci Code.
posted by NoraReed at 7:23 AM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
The problem with this is that 5 out of 7 HP books follow the "Harry Potter and The _____ of _____", so it'd have to be Harry Potter and the Daughter of the Di Vinci Code.
posted by NoraReed at 7:23 AM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by Kattullus at 5:50 AM on August 7, 2013 [5 favorites]