Dads spark stories. Novels. Movies, even.

Unfortunately, not all are interesting to a wide swath of folk and so, for those in a particular niche, it is worth noting that Art Rooney — the man behind the Pittsburgh Steelers — has been memoirized by his son in a "nonfiction novel."

Gaining a bit more traction is Craig Glazer's The King of Sting, a story mostly about how extraordinary the author is as he turns from ripped off, drug-dealing frat boy into avenger of justice and personal enricher. But it is also a story that's told in a way suggesting none of it would never have come about if his dad hadn't been such a prick while he was growing up — not that they don't love each other dearly now...

Not that their love (?) even in its slightly fictionalized form it measures up to what is on display in Rachel Dooley's, Pig Candy, the memoir of trying to save her dad's life while learning all about the man "... [who's] cruel and baiting and grudge-holding and bitter and broken, broken, broken. I love parts of him. I hate parts of him. I forgive much of him, who he is and what he's done. And no matter how hard I try, I can't get past wanting him to turn on me a gaze of absolute, unfettered love."

Physics Professor Ronald Mallett, whose story will be coming to the multiplex thanks to the efforts of Spike Lee, is another who tried to save a dad's life — and does rescue it through his Time Traveler — through his own life and work. His work brings honor to the father he lost at age 10, while his work includes a theory of time travel that maybe, maybe, possibly, maybe would allow the more knowledgeable son to return in time with the medical info his father needed to live longer.