Guy

by Jowita Bydlowska

Guy is a successful talent agent who dates models, pop stars and women he meets on the beach. He's a narcissistic, judgmental snob who rates women's looks from one to ten; a racist, homophobic megalomaniac who makes fun of people's weight; a cheating, lying, manipulative jerk who sees his older girlfriend as nothing more than an adornment. His only real friend, besides his dog, is a loser who belongs to a pick-up artist group. Guy is completely oblivious to his own lack of empathy, and his greatest talent is hiding it all...until he meets someone who challenges him in a way he's never been challenged before. Darkly funny and utterly offensive, "Guy" is a brilliant and insightful character study that exposes the twisted thoughts of the misogynist bro next door.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Relationships

270 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2016

About the author

Born in Poland, live in Canada, published some books.

Reviews

[Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'll probably hate Guy. But you can't resist Guy.

[Myles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really fine story and incidentally includes some of the best sex scenes I've read in any book in years. If I had to categorize it, I'd call it retribution lit. This one's for you Gian Gomeshi!

[Rod Raglin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seduction as a higher purpose
Guy thinks he's God's gift to women and he just might be.
 
Handsome, impeccably groomed, fashion forward, buff, sophisticated, a gourmet chef, an exciting career as a talent promoter and wealthy - thanks to an inheritance from his grandmother.
 
Early in life Guy realized he had this power to attract women, but so what? Where was the challenge? Beautiful women were too entitled and too high maintenance, they were not grateful enough. On the other hand, plain women, say a four out of ten, the ones with the over processed hair, the "full figure" and no sense of fashion, well, they couldn't believe how lucky they were when he focused his many talents on them.
 
Why not give these women a one in a life time experience, maybe even elevate their self esteem to the point they could make something of themselves. After all, if someone a wonderful as him was interested in them, maybe they weren't the losers they though they were.
 
Dolores is one of these young women. Guy meets her in front of his beach house (part of grandma's inheritance) applies the "full press" for a week and then when she goes home to go to college never calls or returns hers.
 
Just another lucky loser, but ungrateful Dolores refuses to go away and the trouble begins.
 
Author Jowita Bydlowska has created a very memorable character, a chauvist pig for sure, but true to his own moral code. It's hard not to start to like her anti-hero as he struggles with all us lesser mortals wondering why those he interacts with are appalled by his insensitivity when we would feel the same as him if we could only be honest with ourselves.
 
Written in the first person, Bydlowska nails Guy's voice and her diction and dialogue are edgy, authentic and LOL funny. Her supporting characters are perfect foils for Guy to play off. The plot's fast paced and exceedingly contemporary.
 
This brilliant novel begins to unwind as it draws to a close The convoluted ending casts Guy out of character, stripped of his superiority, almost needy and with no apparent motivation. Did Bydlowska think her deliciously nasty, sociopathically insensitive protagonist needed redemption?
 
Too bad.
 

[Ron S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkly comic satire about a narcissistic megalomaniac with zero empathy whose life revolves around his relationships with women, as adornments, one nighters or "projects." Bydlowska's endorsements for this work coming from Joseph Boyden, Miranda July and Lena Dunham are wholly deserved. Far more "The Deep Whatsis" than Nick Hornby in its tone. Expect to dislike the titular protagonist while greatly enjoying the read, right to its twisted ending.

[Steven Buechler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bydlowska has captured a element of the human condition here. I kept flashing back to the plot of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and while Bydlowska’s Guy is not as ultra violent as Patrick Bateman, he is indeed as vile at times. There is a conceit about him that we all somehow can relate to – we know somebody like that – and in doing so a reader takes time out to pause to consider their realities.

http://tinyurl.com/hxt8axr

[Kim Trusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compulsively readable.

[Zippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish we had the option of 3 1/2 stars, because that's where this would have fallen.

Some beautifully written prose here, and an interesting topic.

It's a short book that felt longer, but in a good way.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Guy" was really hard to like. Guy is a misogynist and maybe narcissist who objectifies women on just about every page of the book. There is explicit sexual content in his fantasies as well as in the text through his experiences. Reading from his perspective, where women are constantly ranked by appearance and viewed as sexual objects, really made my skin crawl. I kept waiting for things to change/some kind of epiphanies, but epiphanies of real value/growth never really seemed to come. The writing was good, but it didn't really make up for the content, and this is a book I really couldn't get into/enjoy. Please note that I received a copy through a goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book and very well-written!

[Katherine Pederson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I was slightly put off by knowing the author is a women (it's right on the front jacket) and that slightly tainted the reading for me. But she did a fabulous job of crafting an utterly horrible self absorbed male (Guy). I couldn't stand him from page 1! (and I say that in a good way). Distractions: I felt Guy knew just a little too much about clothes (female authors voice creeping through...) and the detailed cooking scenes did not ring true at all...they just didn't fit Guy's character. There is quite a lot of sex, which may not be for every reader, but the descriptions are part of who Guy is and show his callousness. I was cheering when his relationship with Bird seemed to be his undoing and I would have been happy to have the novel end there (the bad guy get's his just reward!). But the book is about 6 pages too long and the ending is lame.

[Liyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guy reminds me of Patrick Bateman, but it took too long for the woman that supposedly challenges him to come along. And by then it was easy to guess where the story was leading towards.

I wanted more vengeance - but at the end I almost just felt sorry for him.

Oh well, it was short and it was fun.

[Gerard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a cross between Russell Smith's Girl Crazy and David Gilmour's How Boys See Girls, and better than either. I'm only giving it 4 stars because I'm on the fence about the ending. I might like it more later.

[Kirundo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. I didn't get how Guy was hot, the way the book described him I found him not arrogant and narcissistic enough. The whole plot got boring when he met the girl that was immune. Also the end is highly unrealistic.

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

don't waste your time on this book, read it for a book club, did not enjoy the book, I feel I wasted my money

[Jumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Guy is a royal jerk but he is honest. Irritating yet so entertaining... The ultimate sycho love story.

[Laine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, the main character Guy is a soulless sex machine one's meant to despise but the women who can't see through him or can but go for his act anyway are equally repellent. Guy is somewhat perverse, rating every woman he sees from 1 to 10 but he gets off on doing "charity work" in the 3 to 7 range. He theorizes that the brief sexual attention of a dreamboat like himself might elevate an unattractive woman's self-confidence, "free" her from her anxieties and possibly make her believe she's capable of breaking barriers keeping her back. After a one night stand or at most a couple of weeks of intense focus, he never sees these women again so he can hardly show recommendations from lays who have sailed off stately swans that he has transformed from their ugly duckling limitations through sex above their pay grade. Indeed, on a few occasions, he instead witnesses with distaste the destruction he's wreaked. So his credentials as a self-appointed sex "therapist" are questionable. How many women after all react well to being dumped, soar to greater heights? The theory is not borne out in the real world.

Finally this robotic f-em and leave-em robot falls for a very unlikely girl who plays havoc with his well-practiced routine and out-maneuvers him because his passion for her makes him stupid the way his previous partners' admiration for his superficialities made them stupid. Guess he feels some guilt for his previous life after all because he becomes downright drippy and masochistic, confessing to a crime he DIDN'T commit, accepting punishment as his atonement for sins against countless women as though they bore no responsibility for their own mistakes. And sure enough, his nemesis visits him in jail and promises to wait for him. He rated her pretty low when he was not involved with her, a 3 or 4 and that certainly didn't change when she shaved her head, so whatever future time they spend together, everyone will wonder what a male 10 is doing with a young 4 with no wealth. A sick couple - sadomasochistic with her having the whip hand, no happy ending here.

[CANDEN333 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, depressing and amazing!
I think Canadians don’t get enough sunlight because everything I read from them is so gloomy! But this book is so intriguing I couldn’t put it down!
Guy is a depressing character. He’s a shell. A beautiful, charismatic, empty shell! He’s so empty he doesn’t even care; about himself, others, anything. Money and living well but he’s not ambitious. It sort of just falls in his lap. He’s apparently incredibly good looking so he expects everyone and everything to just happen to him. He knows women inside and out and is weary of all their emotional bs. Good bs or bad. Be cause they feel. He does not. Nor does he really want to. Most of this book is about his sad life and the equally sad lives of the people around him.
Towards the end he meets a girl who actually doesn’t care about him. This intrigues him, obsesses him and finally drags him into two huge dramas. One might even be called the dreaded “L” word!
Read this with a sense of humor otherwise it could leave you wondering what the meaning of life is.

[Tracye Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked/disliked this novel. Guy was definitely 100% pure narcissist, it's funny (not funny) that I know men like this. Also, and I am no prude but the sexuality is extremely graphic. So this would not be for everyone. I think a 3 is as high as I can give it as a rating. And the last three or four chapters were eye-opening and definitely not what I was expecting the ending of this book to be. That's about all I can say.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still don't know what to think of this book, though I don't think I'll change my three-star rating. Part of me is still trying to figure out the meaning of the ending. Didn't love how the plot didn't get going until halfway through the novel. Well-written and interesting, but I wished it was a bit more light-hearted and funny.

[Jackie Trimble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free from Goodreads.

I was excited to read it. It could have been so much better. Some parts were good, but it never hit a home run with me.

However, if you're a fan of "poetic justice" - you might like this.

[Laine · Rating 3 out of 5]

a pretty impressive satirical take on the modern archetype of well-to-do asshole and the place he has in the current rape culture climate. i was hooked. the reveal was excellent. the food descriptions and exercise regimen details were on-point, reminding me heavily of american psycho.

3 stars.

[Taryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story, a fascinating exploration of tricky topics, and a unique point of view. It was enjoyable to read, and I liked the commentary a lot, but I don't know if it'll be one I'm thinking about months from now.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get through the first half because I hate the protagonist. Yet when his story gets complicated I feel compelled to sympathize with him. I think it reinforces some rape myths that probably don’t need more visibility.

[J.J. Dupuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few people could write a book with such a detestable protagonist and make it so gripping. Bydlowska does an excellent job navigating both a troubling character and controversial subject matter. Guy is a well-paced and well-balanced novel that doesn't quit.

[S.D Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie fucking Hawtin, synesthesia music while reading this. Like a late night in Berlin

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another novel that I couldn't put down! I can see why her nonfiction​ book was such a hit because she's a great storyteller!

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK. However its about a narcissistic womanizer who never really learns to respect women - Not really a turn on for a read. I loved " drunk Mom" by Bydlowska which is why I read this. Thankfully I borrowed from library so no money spent on this one.

[Nancy]

I thought it would be original, clever and interesting. Instead, it was just gross, crass and vulgar. The characters were completely offensive and if they had any redeeming qualities, I don't know what they were. I got through about the first quarter and gave up.
Endorsed by Lena Dunham, so, I guess that makes sense. Seems like it would be up her alley.
NOT recommended!