I eat like an independently wealthy middle schooler.

Fat Rascal. Author of the essay collection Breakfast for Dinner.

Preorder the book Read the newsletter
New book coming soon from Foxhole Ink
The book
Breakfast for Dinner by Ryan Staples
Out September 2, 2026

Breakfast for Dinner

A feel-good book about when everything goes wrong.

Get it Kirkus Reviews

Breakfast for Dinner is a memoir-in-essays about family, failure, and the long, stumbling effort of becoming the adult you always needed as a kid.

Across thirteen funny and unflinchingly honest stories, Ryan Staples revisits the strange and humiliating moments that somehow shape a life: the end of childhood friendships, a near-death experience in U.S. Navy boot camp, middle school bullies, sucking at sports, living with a Turkish immigrant he met on the internet, and the deeply uncomfortable realization that his father waited about five years too long to deliver the sex talk.

Told by someone who has absolutely no business giving advice, Breakfast for Dinner captures the awkwardness of growing up, the pain of not being seen, and what it takes to become someone the people you love can rely on.

Preorder →

Amazon  ·  Barnes & Noble  ·  Bookshop.org  ·  Books-A-Million

Praise

"A profoundly vulnerable memoir, the work acknowledges childhood pain without wallowing in it. ... Staples is a gifted storyteller who can make any tale—from the mundane to the ridiculous—both poignant and comical."

— Kirkus Reviews

"An earnest storyteller and candid observer... with jokes to spare. Great for fans of David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day and Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors."

— BookLife by Publishers Weekly
The short version
Ryan Staples

Ryan Staples is a recipient of the commissioner's award for "Most Misleading Athletic Appearance" in the Boston Comedy Softball League. He has performed in New England's finest VFW halls, hotel function rooms, dive bars, casinos, failing movie theaters, and college cafeterias. Breakfast for Dinner is his debut essay collection. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and their two children.

The newsletter

Follow me on Substack

I write things. And when something feels done, this is where it ends up.

Subscribe →
Say hi

When I was in the scouts or at boot camp, I used to love getting letters in the mail. That doesn't happen anymore. What's going on with you? Seen any good movies lately?

ryan@foxholeink.com