When writer Justin Halpern moved back into his parents’ house after the breakup of his relationship, he took what might have been a depressing situation and turned it into a comedic goldmine. In August of last year, Halpern began tweeting the foul-mouthed witticisms spouted by his father, Samuel, on topics as varied as Pringles flavors and raising children. His Twitter feed (shitmydadsays) quickly became a web sensation, now boasts over a million followers, and has recently been turned into a book. Sh*t My Dad Says, which hit stores earlier this month and is now on the New York Times Bestsellers List, expands on the 140-character tweets and includes a few short essays about Halpern’s childhood and his relationship with his father. In a blog post for Powell’s Books, Halpern acknowledges his father’s input and support while writing the book. “Despite his editorializing, reviewing my manuscript with him was a great experience. I was reliving my childhood, and he was reliving that time in our lives, too, except through my eyes.”

Samuel Halpern, a Vietnam vet and retired physician, is not shy about sharing his opinion or stingy with the expletives, which makes his thoughts all the more amusing to read. “It’s a fun gift book that is bound to crack up anyone who flips through it – as long as they don’t mind the frequently filthy language, which is, of course, part of the fun,” writes Carolyn Kellogg for the Los Angeles Times. The fun won’t stop with the printed word either, since CBS will air a sitcom based on the writer’s tweets, starring William Shatner, beginning this fall. Halpern is set to co-produce and co-write the series.