Phillip Toledano became a father at the age of forty. He fell in love with his daughter about a year and a half later, when he realized she was the most bewitching human being he'd ever seen. Initially, though, things were different. The Reluctant Father follows Phillip's journey at the beginning of fatherhood. The first eighteen months were a time of torment, dismay, and confusion. The blinding light of unalloyed love came later. It's a surprisingly frank, funny, and moving account, and he hopes his daughter won't hold it against him when she's grown up.

In many ways, The Reluctant Father is a sequel to the best-selling Days With My Father, which documented the three years Phillip spent taking care of his father, who suffered from dementia.