Life in a Marital Institution: 20 Years of Monogamy in One Terrifying Memoir

by James Braly

LIFE IN A MARITAL INSTITUTION is a look inside the manic marriage of opposites, from the winning point of view of the husband, the "gaspingly funny" (Variety), "never less than excellent" (New York Times) writer of the hit Off-Broadway show of the same name.The marriage memoir—from Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed to Isabel Gillies's It Happens Every Day —has been a balm to beleaguered wives everywhere. But who speaks for the husbands--and tells you what you never get to hear from your girlfriends? In this sharp, funny, poignant glimpse into a very unusual marriage, sensitive, decent, shell-shocked James Braly earns the job. His marriage to a woman who is so bewitching--that at their very first meeting she corrects the handwriting he uses to write her prized name and number on a slip of paper—is by turns fascinating and casually shocking. Thus begins a romance that includes progressive adventures in extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, even fine dining (dinner parties whose guests include a connoisseur of human "pan roasted...in cumin").The scenes from Braly's marriage are wrapped around the story that explains why someone chooses such a partnership to begin a colorful, kooky family that includes a fierce bomber pilot dad, a debutante heiress mom, and a delightfully druggy sister dying in a Houston hospice, and who'd rather be dead than married to James's wife. In other words, love is what love was--only darkly hilarious.Braly's one-man show of the same name is currently touring the country, produced by Meredith Vieira Productions, which is developing the show for television.

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2013

Reviews

[Michelle]

The only thing better...

The only thing better than this book is listening to the author on The Moth.... Read and listen! You won’t regret it!

[Laura]

This writer's often painful story gripped me from the start. His experience is very different from my own, but he wrote his story so well that I could actually imagine myself a part of it as I read along.

[Heather]

Funny, yet profoundly sad.