The Average American Marriage

The Average American #2

by Chad Kultgen

The Average American Marriage, the long-awaited sequel to Chad Kultgen’s much debated, always controversial The Average American Male, is a matter-of-fact foray into the male mind and sexual fantasy.

Now married with children, Kultgen's lewd and sex-obsessed narrator once again offers up his deep (and not so deep) thoughts on love, marriage, kids, and (naturally) sex: from birthday sex to interns to parenting, The Average American Male looks upon the institution of marriage with the same deadpan smirk he has brought to the rest of his sex-addled, perennially disaffected life.

Genres: Fiction, Adult, Humor, Novels, Adult Fiction, Satire

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2013

About the author

After two months in his birthplace Spokane, WA Chad Kultgen spent the majority of his life in a suburb of Dallas, TX called Lewisville. After high school, he turned down a full ride baseball scholarship to Trinity University in San Antonio, TX to pursue writing. He moved to Los Angeles, CA where he joined the likes of George Lucas, Robert Zemekis, and Ron Howard as a graduate of the prestigious School Of Cinema/Television at the University of Southern California.

His first job was writing for one of the most widely circulated trade magazines in the music industry, HITS. After two years of being entrenched with rock-stars and their entourages, Chad moved on to become a staff writer for one of American Media's most beloved supermarket tabloids. He created stories about flesh eating zombies, time-traveling stock traders, and
sandwich making house cats for the magazine that gave birth to Batboy, THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.

Chad's next endeavor found him selling his first TV show to VH1. The reality show POSERS featured Chad himself along with two of his real life friends posing as various unrecognizable celebrities to get behind Hollywood's velvet rope. VH1 made a pilot episode in which Chad posed as the bass player from the band Maroon 5 in order to infiltrate one of Hollywood's hottest and most exclusive nightclubs. Once inside he proceeded to drink free champagne and use his fake celebrity to escort five female stars of the adult entertainment industry back to his limo. Despite the success of the pilot internally, a perfectly timed regime change at VH1 left Chad with nothing but DVD of the night's events and the paragraph you just read for his troubles.
In addition to writing the pilot episode of The Average American Male, Chad's feature screenplay BURT DICKENSON: THE MOST POWERFUL MAGICIAN ON PLANET EARTH is currently in the process of being optioned by NEW LINE CINEMA.

Reviews

[Deanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARGH I am so mad....I typed up a pretty long review and my computer froze!! I have been typing in word or notepad documents because this had been happening but thought "oh it will be fine this time" but it WASN'T. Oh well poor me.... here we go with the shorter version. Maybe that's for the best ;-)

I have no idea what made me read these books. I think it started with the "Men, Women and Children" book he wrote that was made into a movie. I thought it looked really interesting. Then I read a few reviews on another of his book "The Lie" and gave it a try and was AGAIN sorry I did. On top of that I read THIS BOOK because I thought it just couldn't be as bad as the others. The only one I did not read was his first which was a prequel to this one called "The Average American Male".

I should really give myself permission to not finish books now and then. And I could kick myself for reading the others!
I have a real dislike of all of these books. I've seen other reviews where the reviewer has insisted that this is a brutally honest portrayal of a real American marriage. If is so then I feel our relationships and our children's future relationships are potentially doomed.

This author is saying that EVERY female loses her attraction for her husband and EVERY male uses this as an excuse to play around (or entertain the idea at great length). That the husband is so disgusted with his wife's changing body (after aging and bearing his children?). Oh there's just so much to say in my opinion. People say the author is unafraid of "going there" with his blunt language and imagery. I disagree and say he's just going for shock value at every chance he gets.

Honestly I am not a prude! I can take some dirty talk and raunchiness and not be offended. However, when the author (and I've read an interview or two) says he bases his books on what ALL men actually think. Single and married. Then if that's true it's incredibly sad.

I know the divorce rate is high. I know people are unfaithful but I prefer to believe that not every man thinks the way the men and women do in Kultgen's books. In my opinion it's not creative or gutsy...it's unimaginative and easy! Most of the minds of these males seem like they are based on the stereotypical movie frat boy type thinking.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong and all men do think the way this author thinks they do? I truly hope not....

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel sick. Lesbianism is my only hope.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am literally having trouble putting this book down. Not in some bs cliche way. 'Oh my god. This book is so good, I cant put it down.' No. When I close this book I feel like I'm a crackhead going through withdraws. But instead of withdraws from smoking rock, I'm having withdraws from laughter. I've chuckled. I've cackled. And on numerous occasions I've had hearty John Magua laughs while reading this book. I cant believe I almost forgot about this genre.

I'm very happy right now."

So sometimes I write an email to myself halfway through a book and then read the email when I'm finished to compare my thoughts about the book. The above quote is how I felt when I was a little more than halfway through Average American Marriage. Unfortunately, the second half of this book is no where close as funny as I found the first half. Maybe it was the multiple fingers of scotch I had while reading the first half, or maybe the first half was just better. Who knows? I don't. Maybe you should be reading it yourself instead of reading my review. I'm an illiterate degenerate, you shouldn't be reading my reviews in the first place.

4.5 stars.

[Russell Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

With chapter names like "Blowjob Ass Cramp" and "Shitdick" it's hard not to point out how incredibly puerile and crass this book can be. Still gets 3 stars, and I'll probably read everything he writes.

[Sandi Widner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A four star review for "The Average American Marriage" by Chad Kultgen

"The Average American Marriage", the long-awaited sequel to Chad Kultgen’s much debated, always controversial "The Average American Male", is a matter-of-fact foray into the male mind and sexual fantasy.

Forthright and unashamed, Chad Kultgen is not afraid to "go there" with blunt language and imagery, offering up a spot-on portrait of how some men view their marriages. "The Average American Marriage" is the book everyone will be talking about around the water cooler, in line at the grocery store...and in the bedroom.

Dear Readers: Being a wife, I enjoyed this male perspective of marriage, which, sadly, I think might be frighteningly accurate. My only negative thought: A lot of profanity, even if it is between guys!

[Jasey Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don’t really know what to say. kultgen is a truly fearless writer: fearless in the sense that he will write the most embarrassing book he possibly can and never think to stop himself. if I wrote this book and published it under my real name, I would have to shoot myself in the head. Even worse: I READ this whole thing. I couldn’t keep away. What does that say about me? I was continuously struck by the AUDACITY of this tiny penis white man who writes about women’s boobs and assholes more than he writes about women. The chapters blend together after a certain point. Endless descriptions of women’s bodies; endless gay jokes; endless contempt for people who are not male. He just. keeps. going. And that’s the magic of Chad Kultgen, 5’3 novelist, the little incel that could ⭐️✨⭐️✨

[Alicia Mehlig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chad speaks the truth! If you're a woman or a man and find this book gross or shocking its just further proof that you can't handle the reality of what men , MOST men actually think and say , it's genius and this kind of raw honesty is needed

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to have an immature sense of humor to like this book, if you're serious about it, the main character will just piss you off as a scumbag perv.

Luckily I have the sense of humor of an 18 year old frat boy so this isn't an issue.

[Jason Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's getting a little older, a little darker, and somehow, a little more honest (I honestly didn't think that was possible after reading The Average American Male).

Chad paints a picture here that a lot of people know is true, but never want to admit. He says what we all want to say, but don't want to believe. He shows you in this two-hundred some pages what it's like to be married, have kids, and keep moving forward in a life, even if it's not exactly how you pictured it. Don't get me wrong, he's going to bring the humor, you're going to laugh a lot throughout the book, but this one isn't going to let you limp away when you're done, you'll be crawling.

In this novel, you'll go through what it's like to look at women as objects, masturbate to phone porn, and watch your kids grow up while you're still growing up yourself. Unlike his other books, I left this one with a little less of a smile than I did coming in. That isn't to say that this is a bad thing, it just has an ending that's a little more solemn than I was expecting.

I guess the thought I have after reading the novel, and his acknowledgements page, is that marriage and kids aren't on the list of priorities for Mr. Kultgen... and that's okay. He gives us an honest and brutal view of what life could become if we let it.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In all honesty... That is pretty much the key phrase in this book. While I can see where most people would get offended by this book, if I could write a companion novel based on what women are thinking about constantly, it would read pretty close to this one. Towards the beginning of the book, the author is describing sex with his wife and how much an episiotomy scar bothered him. Honestly, his wife was probably thinking along the same lines! "Do I look the same? Is that a bad view of my @ss? Did I wax/shave/nair?"
This guy has the guts to put into print what is rolling through everyone's minds but just not accepted as stuff you say out loud. Women call it window shopping, but with trash like Fifty Shades topping the charts, how could this possibly offend all of those women secretly fantasizing about Christian?
Hilarious, direct, and worth the read. Pick it up for a good laugh and some much needed insight into what your hubbies really want. I won this from First reads as a free ARC, but guarantee I will be seeking out the first one!

[Yair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been following Chad Kultgen for some years now. He's one of the few authors of whom I can say I've read every one of his books. I remember reading The Average American Male on break and after work when I was working at the UCLA student store. I remember reading it in two sittings and laughing, actually laughing, which is a hard thing for a book to make me do and yet still take it seriously, which I certainly did for this one. I didn't buy it (sorry Chad) but I did buy his next book The Lie and enjoyed it (though not quite as much as its predecessor as it seemed to let go of some of the comedy in lieu of some Bret Easton Ellis style collegiate emptiness).

I bought and read his next book Men, Women and Children just before I went off to live abroad for a year and change. It was good, very good. The book, not the year. To me it was what The Lie could have been if it had just been played out and developed a bit more.

And now here we are at the sequel to his first novel: The Average American Marriage. And again, I laughed my ass off while still taking it what it had to say seriously. The nameless protagonist from the first novel has returned having been married for a few years to the once hot and now quite frigid woman he left his old girlfriend for. He is, more or less, where he was at years before. He masturbates in secret, attempts sex with a, now, wife who couldn't be less interested. Has two kids that he appears to be a surprisingly good father to. He works at a job that doesn't seem to fulfill him in anyway other than financial. And, as Vonnegut once said, so it goes. Or rather, so it went, until (spoiler) he hires a beautiful college intern.

The actual progression of the story is fairly standard. (Spoilers, last warning) nameless man cheats and cheats quite severely with Holly the intern and destroys his marriage. Eventually he kicks Holly to the curb and begins the slow process of reconciling himself not only to his wife but his life within the modern incarnation of American marriage.

What Kultgen is a master of here is voice and the depiction of feeling. What a man goes through as he contemplates ruining his marriage for a quick but reinvigorating fling. He doesn't just paint his female characters as negatives, his wife is unattractive and the intern is attractive so there it's justified. Rather, Kultgen depicts the drudgery and the slow and miserable process of physical desire denied and denied again under the strain of a marriage well into, I believe, its half decade mark, and shows the fountain of life, of the reawakening inherent in really good, really passionate sex.

But where Kultgen sort of slips is the mistaking of pleasure for happiness as Roger Ebert stated reviewing Todd Solondz's film Happiness. Though anything but a psychologist I can see a lack when it's this ever-present. The characters here, up to and including the protagonist, don't seem to be happy. And that makes sense. Happiness is, while maybe not the most complex thing, something nonetheless earned, which in this modern America of quick fixes, instant gratification, and turning away from the more than the instantly attainable, something incredibly elusive.

And the characters seem to cobble together something resembling but not not actually happiness. Facebook, video games, parties, drugs, all the standards new and old, of ritual and instant gratification are here. It's a heavy handed satire that makes modern life less than attractive but at the same time bracing in its honesty.

Most people, especially after some of Kultgen's previous works, may accuse him of misogyny or, at the very least, favoring the males of his cast over the females. And, well, he does. But that doesn't mean the women are whores and mothers and the males dashing rouges chained down by their insanity. Everyone is brought down here by the doldrums of modern life. And if the men are depicted in a more sympathetic light it's only because, so I read it, of something akin to what was found in Fight Club (film and novel) that men have been so thoroughly emasculated and even destroyed a bit by the increasingly rapid progress of the modern world that their lack is just more obvious than that of the women.

What's left from all this? Night darkest before the dawn? No, not quite. As the protagonist points out at a certain juncture in the book, America is not in the best of straits. But the night isn't all black. The fact that the protagonist is able to be a (mostly) good father to his kids and a.) appreciate the sexual power of a woman while b.) return (grudgingly) to his imperfect but loving (on her side it would seem also grudgingly) wife, says that while people may not always, or even ever live up to what they're truly capable, there are certain near absolute goods that we as people can still wander our way towards if we just keep ourselves open to them...sometimes.

Anyway, it's a good book, fucking hilarious, and the humor goes hand in expert hand with the acidic critique of the modern american life.

[Dina Saur · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could have the three hours of my life back spent reading this book.

It's not that I'm offended by the sexism or raunch or foul language. It's just that this book does a terrible job of it. Totally unimaginative. The main character is neither an effective, funny polemic; nor does he garner any human sympathy; nor does he provide any nuanced insight into actual life. A failure both as a novel of manners and a polemic -- not sure which one the author was aiming for. The characters are nothing more than shit- and cum- stained cardboard cutouts. Yuck.

So many people have done this kind of thing better. Revolutionary Road depicts the empty soul of American suburban marriage from both sides of the marriage. Jonathan Franzen's Freedom did the mid-life crisis much better. Jennifer Egan writes much more engagingly on technology and loneliness. Will Self's novels are raunchy and highly sexed, but funny and incredibly creative. Philip Roth does the libidinous male with more intelligence and infinitely better prose. Even American Psycho is more respectable -- at least there's an ax murderer! And if it is pure, unadulterated filth you're looking for, Charlotte Roche's Wetlands does it much better, from a much more interesting perspective.

Seldom have I ever read a book that combines blah plus yuck plus sex to such a boring effect.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring garbage

It’s like, if I say “fuck” a bunch of times and talk about anal sex, someone will think this is provocative and interesting. Nope.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Chad Kultgen. I thought I'd pick this up, since I'm getting married soon. Take Charles Bukowski and multiple it by a nasty factor of at least 10. Then you have Kultgen. How have I not read him before? A man detests his wife. He is no longer sexually attracted to her, and every move she makes actually repulses him. So, he fantasizes about every woman he sees....even women he's not attracted to. When that falls short of adequate satisfaction, he strikes up an affair with a younger, more adventurous woman at work, the intern he hired. While maintaining a sense of normalcy at home, his sexual fantasies overwhelm his brain...making it difficult to focus on anything else. This book is not kind to women, or women's bodies. But the character development is outrageously wonderful. While I absolutely loathed the husband, his thoughts and candid pervertedness was so accurate and appalling, I felt like I could see through his soul. This is a crude and frank book, with lots of graphic details....I'm quite surprised we haven't had complaints about it yet. But it is well written, and I read the whole thing.

[Mentor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is classic Chad Kultgen. If you read The Average American Male, this is more of the same, which is exactly what most of his readers want.
I read everything Kultgen published.
He is one of those love-or-hate writers with a strong bias to subjects some people may find gross, disturbing or plain childish.
But indubitably, he knows exactly how to describe the way most of men of my generation think and will never admit. His talent is even more obvious when he writes in first person, like in this book.
In The Lie and in Men, Women and Children he made his point of creating a background where characters could interact in a more organized drama, creating dilemmas and making you constantly think on how it will end.
But here, as in his debut book, writing in the first person, make it more like a confessional diary, that reinforces the idea of a gap of moral between the way we live and the way we think. Great book again.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brutally honest portrayal of the vapid and conflicted lives of unsuccesfuly married American (and Canadian) men. What makes the book good is the author's ability to reveal the emotional struggle of being with one's kids and family versus the biological urge of procreating with every attractive woman a man sees when his wife has lost interest in the sexual aspect of the marriage. The writing style is simplistic and direct which makes the work feel more truthful than it already is. You are plugged directly into the mind of an average American male and its not pretty. While I can personally assure women that Kultgen's protagonist is on the extreme side of male centric personality defects - his encapsulation of the turmoil and inner demons men struggle with is largely accurate.

[Leah Hortin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was something about this book that I didn't like quite as much as the first... I think it has to do with the fact that I am married and greatly fear falling into this "average" American marriage trap that Kultgen so accurately portrays (IMO, obvs). It is slightly less raunchy than the Average American Male but only slightly so. It is interesting to see a marriage in the eyes of the guy and I found myself yearning to hear from his wife. Kultgen has a pretty clear message here and it is definitely a good sequel and had me laughing but something was missing and I think that something is hope.

[Giselle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The issues brought up in this book arent untrue.Its just that the characters are one dimensional cartoons. Its impossible to feel anything for them. If the writer was more skilled he could have injected some life into the story. The same kind of theme was handled in the Rabbit series by Updike but with the sort of artfulness you won't find here. Kultgen is trying to be some sort of Brett Easton Ellis, I think. His books are compelling to me because they represent an unvarnished truth, which is refreshing but ultimately banal.

[Spencer Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I read the sequel to a book that I didn’t particularly like and it was basically exactly what I expected it to be. I think this author just isn’t for me. I can somewhat appreciate what he is trying to do which I assume is be brutally honest (or what he thinks is brutal honesty), but I just don’t agree with his worldview. I once again think the main character continues to be pretty repulsive, however there are fleeting moments in this book where he shows a sliver of humanity. I think his wife is a much more interesting and sympathetic character who I wish this story would have been from the perspective of. Instead I feel like she is treated really terribly by this book. I get that is the point, but I genuinely feel sick thinking about where that character ends up. Especially as the only character in both of these books that I even moderately like. Ultimately, these books are incredibly pessimistic and gross and I regret reading them.
I’m not someone who doesn’t welcome a feel bad experience: one of my favorite books of all time is ‘The Lord of the Flies’ and I love many pieces of art that examine horrific events or people. I think what conflicts me and makes me hate these books is in the title: the word “average”. As an individual, I do not believe that this embodies who people are. I genuinely do not believe that and I take issue with that claim. Maybe in 10 years, I will be a cynical piece of shit like the character whose story I just read, but today I like to think that people are better.

[Vanessa Sumner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy needs ayahuasca STAT. Or anything else. Anything. A lobotomy. Inpatient therapy. Round the clock sativa vaping. To move to Death Valley and develop a working relationship with the professional girls there, leaving his wife to have a life that is basically anything other than what she thinks she has with him.
But anyway, the author is a great writer. I hate the MC but also feel his pain deeply. I root for him a little even though I hate him unequivocally. The mark of an exceptional writer. I also thank my lucky stars that my libido isn’t so raging that it resembles a meth habit.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve never been so happy to be a lesbian in my entire life. If this is how “men” and “marriage” are, the heteros can keep it. I hate the narrator, his wife is also irritating, and the only bearable character in this entire novel is his son, who has maybe seven lines.

[Dennis Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although he may be callow and self-centered, I found myself crushing on the average American male. His honesty was hilarious. This is sex on the brain.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 4.5 stars. Yay.
A sweet, delightful read about a caring father and husband. <3

Kidding. It's quite twisted.

There are graphic novels and then there are graphic novels. This one's bold. Very bold.

Some people would call this book:
-Disgusting
-Pornographic
-Offensive
-Sexist
-Disturbing
-Controversial
-Depressing

And they'd be right, for the most part. But oh my oh my, it's pretty fascinating. A no holds barred journey into a married man's mind can be so entertaining. And funny, as much as I hate to admit it. I'm pretty sure this is satirical, though. So don't take it too seriously.

This is the sequel to The Average American Male, which I didn't read, so I have no comments on it. But we begin with whatever-the-hell-his-name-is. (I honestly don't think his name is even mentioned. It's funny that I can't even remember because I just read this.) MEMORY PROBLEMS, man. Basically, he's a sex fiend and resents his wife for not pleasing him. We go through the day by day motions with this man. Somewhat like a journal.
Also, a sexy intern shows up. Uh-oh.
Also, a gay wedding.
Also, Facebook.
Also, a vasectomy.

But I must warn anyone who decides to read this: nothing is held back, really. Every disgusting thought this man has will be written within the pages of this book.

A vague review, and for good reason.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this through Goodreads first reads, and I cant tell you just how grateful I was. This was of the most funnest books I have read in a long time. How I missed this wonderful author I dont know, But boy am I glad I finally got the opportunity to do so.
I found this amazing. I was laughing my ass off from the first page and laughed to the end. I just loved the dirty man humor. Being one of the only females in my large family I always had more of a males sense of humor and this was right up my ally. I dont this i enjoyed a book like this since I hope they serve beer in hell. It was a breath of fresh air. Its very rare to find a book from a mans point of view along with being funny as hell.
This is a book that I will be recommending to family and friends. I even this this will be this years christmas present for the whole family.
This was such a great find. I truly hope to the author continues to write amazing books in the future.
Thank you again

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I assume to be a thoroughly accurate thought process of a bro turned husband with kids approaching 40. Kultgen gets down that men think about sex all the time, but he likes to focus on a specific breed of men: the pussy hound. I know plenty of dudes like this who end up in serious relationships or marriages, and you can tell it's only to check off the traditional societal standard box. These men have some decent qualities, but they're ultimately children who expect their girlfriends or wives to be perfect fuckbots while they get to be old and out of shape. They then expect sympathy when their partners are no longer perfect fucktoys and their life turns into a predictable and mundane series of events that's devoid of any kind of "real happiness." It's hard to feel bad for these guys, but thanks to Kultgen's writing, it doesn't make their perspective any less entertaining to read.

P.S.
Solidarity > Wife & Kids

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so hard to review a book so rotten and appalling because it's so rotten and appalling, even though that's the point.

I've now read most of Kultgen's fiction, and it's mostly the dame thing overall - sex-obsessed men behaving badly. The Average American Marriage actually takes a step in a different direction, however, which involves the main character (who we met in The Average American Male) finally having to take some responsibility. It was kind of refreshing to see that sort of humanity in a series of writing that, to this point, hadn't shown it.

Why I keep reading these, I have no clue. They are incredibly fast reads, nothing too complicated, and I mostly have a look of disgust on my face as I read, but I keep reading more and more. If you enjoy the Tucker Max books, but find it lacking in the depravity department, you could do worse than this.

[Destiny Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story about the average american marriage of to his wife Alyna. He talks about the
lack of sexual activity in there marriage since their two children Jane and Andy been born. frustration with the lack of sex in there marriage, has turned him into a cocky man who imagines a sexual encounter with every woman in front of him. Finding himself bored with his every day routine, gets off of work at six. Home by six forty-five. Eats dinner with Alyna and kids at seven, kids get baths right after dinner. One day at work he interviews interns to fill in a spot at his work.Holly is one of them he finds himself imagining sexual encounters with. Holly gets the job and his life gets turned upside down.I enjoyed this novel so much and a mans POV was a plus. I find myself re reading this great novel over and over.

[Kirby Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chad is actually a friend of mine so I read all his books. This one was oddly touching-and-depressing-at-the-same-time in an American Beauty sort of way that I liked. And technically, this falls into my favorite genre of fiction: stories about crushing life disappointment. It also has a lot of really funny laugh-out-loud lines. Lots of his trademark unapologetic realism, like in all his other work. Regardless of whether or not you like what the narrator is saying, there's no denying the truth in it. Every time I talk to guys about his books, they all say the same thing: "Yep, that is pretty much all I think about, sorry to disappoint." So if you're not interested in delving into the recesses of the average heterosexual dude's mind, steer clear.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I considered the first book delightfully indulgent. This continuation of the tale of our relatable (and by that I mean we vicariously desire these experiences without the oft-unpleasant ramifications) narrator borders on boring. One can look at this novel in one or two ways: trashy pulp hidden inside a mundane tale of boring marriage-turned-affair-turned-grovelling; or, a mundane tale that only becomes tolerable after adding pulpy trash. This book proves that not only does Kultgen bring nothing narratively other than the ability to regurgitate the time-old tale of mid-life crisis and a penchant for the pornographic; but, his entire idea of marriage is based on television and movies where this story has existed long before he put pen to page.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. I probably need to be a man to really appreciate this. No, let me rephrase. I need to be a douchebag.

2. I am so glad I am not married to this guy or even dated anyone close to such a....

3. I get the complaints about the wife, the marriage, and the kids. Thank God, not all marriages are like that & thank God, not all men are like the main character.

4. I can see the humor, the honesty, and the worthiness of this author. But it was just had way too many words that I don't want to hear 20 times in a sentence. And I just can't think and talk and criticize and fantacize about sex that much. I like it, but thank God (again) that I am a human with a vagina.

I get the book, and frankly I wouldn't ask the author to write something that he's not. But, it's definitely not my taste.