Father documents the tumultuous relationship between a widowed father, Ma Lisheng, and his school-age son, Ma Che. Though he works as a low-level party functionary during the day, he finds his greatest challenges in the raising of a son on his own. Alternating between trying to bond with his son (even getting drunk with him), and verbally accosting him, Ma is at a loss. One day the son decides that the best way for his father to stop harassing him, will be to find him a new wife, which he finds in the form of the mother of a school friend, Qing Huaiyuan.

Liang is a four-year-old little rebel, possessed of a pair of luminous eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing, since his parents are often away. Life at the kindergarten appears rich and colourful, made up of a variety of cheerfully sunny rituals and games meant to train these children to be good members of society.

《致女儿书》是王朔对女儿关于自己家庭、血缘、历史和个人情感的真实叙述。它原本是一个相当私密的文本，是当遗书写的，准备要有个万一可以给女儿一个交代。他要告诉女儿咱们家是什么来历，你的爸爸到底是个什么样的人，他内心深沉的歉疚和痛苦……
在书中，他细致地告诉女儿什么是正确的世界观，拳拳为父之情漫洇纸上。在书中，王朔和女儿交流的尺度相当宽泛，包括他在家庭伦理关系中的困扰，他在自己创作中的种种思考和苦苦探索，以及实际上以己为例，坦率地告示女儿真实的男人什么样。这种非常平等地视孩子为独立个体的父女关系在现代社会也还是仅见的，而且文字极其优美和细密。王朔在这个私人情感领域里倾身投入，袒露挚爱亲情，这在他以前的创作中从未有过。其中《致女儿书初稿》就是一篇上乘的抒情散文，浓情炽爱，此时心情，爱而不得，去而复返，一吟三叹，低回曲折。是显露王朔本人真实心性的性灵文字。
尤为难得的是，这里有他最深刻的自我批判和反省。因为在所有的事情上也许都有为自己辩护的理由，惟独面对女儿，只要你离开就意味着自己从根儿上的不负责任。因此，这本书可以称为王朔的忏悔录和思痛书。
真挚、深情、不留余地的自我省思是《致女儿书》品高一格的鲜明标志。