Joel's first collection of essays, The 40-Year-Old Version (June 2009), examines how divorce reinvents relationships with kids and one's own sense of Dadhood. This title won First Place in the humor category of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and Second Place in the humor category of the 2010 ForeWord Magazine "Book of the Year" Awards.
The second collection, Small Things Considered (June 2014), examines a variety of tiny obsessions and observations about modern life through the comic perspective of a remarried dad and pop culture junkie.
KIRKUS reviews Small Things Considered: “Schwartzberg (The 40-Year Old Version, 2009) returns with another mostly lighthearted ensemble of short reflections on life as a zany but loving dad trying to raise kids after a divorce.”
Joel was featured in Newsweek April 2009, "A New Dad's Postpartum Depression"
