The Reluctant Metrosexual: Dispatches from an Almost Hip Life

by Peter Hyman

Peter Hyman wants the model/Fulbright Scholar girlfriend, the job with generous stock options and the well-appointed 2BR w/vu. Instead he routinely finds himself single and underemployed in his closet-free walk-up. The last woman he liked got back together with her lesbian lover; the one before that threw up on the first date.

Welcome to the almost hip life of a reluctant metrosexual–a straight man whose tastes are just gay enough. Equal parts cultural anthropologist, amateur sexologist and witty skeptic, Hyman wryly chronicles the promiscuity and perils of modern manhood, whether he’s undergoing a painful Brazilian bikini wax, lurching through a disastrous threesome, or poignantly reflecting on the Scotch-soaked grief of a difficult breakup.

So sit back in your Eames lounger and revel in the good fortune that The Reluctant Metrosexual is not you, it’s him.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jessica S.]

Absolutely fucking terrible. The only part of this book that elicited a chuckle was the chapter in which he got BURGLARIZED and I'm sure that was out of pure schaudenfreude. This is type of book for people that love New York, hate Los Angeles, and are from some nowhere town in the Mid-west but always try to pass off as if they've lived in the Lower East Side their entire life.

[Babsmu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um, he's trying too hard. He reminded me of all the semi-executive twenty-something clones I met while living in NYC. The kind you want to throw a drink on.

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing title- with a few cute one-liners here and there. But generally ended up as a I-wish-I-were-David-Sedaris book.

[Jostalady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, funny read. I started recognizing one of my friends in him and that made it really fun for me.

[Che · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bored me to metrosexual tears

[Amberlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I plucked 'The Reluctant Metrosexual' off the audio shelf at the library because of it's name. I go on semi regular road trips to visit my daughter at
university and I needed something to listen to for the 12 hour drive. The back flap blurb pitched the book as 'hilarious essays about a single guy
attempting to live on the right side of hip.' Although I wouldn't use the word 'hilarious' to describe the collection of, what I assume to be, a humor
column squeezed into book form, I quite enjoyed the listen. I now know that a metrosexual is a straight man in touch with his feminine side, a Felix
Unger from the classic movie, 'The Odd Couple.' There is only so far you can go with delving into the metrosexual lifestyle. Metrosexual=self
absorbed.Most of the essays dealt, pleasantly, with Hyman's search for the perfect mate. Several weeks later I find that I have largely forgotten
most of it.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't even through the introduction before I was chuckling out loud at the wit.
But the humour soon grew tiresome.
Some of the essays were enjoyable, entertaining, but others were not. Reasonably good insights on the meterosexual trend, but DULL musings on unemployment (and I'm unemployed).
At the beginning, I thought all his self-depreciative jabs at this (audio)book were in jest, but really, they are reflective of what it actually is: the ramblings of a guy in New York City. It may be interesting from an anthropology research point of view in 50 (or more) years, but right now, not so much.
Pick and choose your essays, but don't bother reading this cover to cover.

[christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

like david sedaris karoake.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny Sedaris-esque essays.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got bored, got distracted, thought it felt forced and that every obvious aside was mentioned, didn't feel like finishing it- maybe some other time...

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a HOOT to listen to! So fun! And I have to say, the author is indeed a metrosexual! wow. Hilarious.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better title than book, in that it was less about dealing with his “metrosexual-ness” than just stories about him during his 20s and 30s.

[Melissa Cavanaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing - the author was not very likable, and his love for the sound of his own voice should have been curbed by his editor.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

funny non-fic

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Occasionally funny.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because I listened to the author on The Moth and laughed out loud at his story. Unfortunately, this book just didn't hold my attention or inspire laughter like that Moth story.

[Major Doug · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listened to this book: too few funny parts

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting at first, but after a while it become humdrum and blah.

[Sy Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as funny as I thought it would be but it has its moments.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky but funny too. I laugh out loud at the beach a lot Summer 2011.

[Cavendishmk · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring, monotone narration - could not finish