FREE comedy ebook for you to review!

[hughstacey]

Hi there,

Would you like to read an ebook about the humorous, dark side of being a stay-at-home parent? A group of Dads who met online have put one together, and it's called MEMOIRS OF A MAN. It's very rude, it's quite angry, but it's also very funny (in our opinion at least). We've thrown it up on Amazon but are looking for people to review it, so if you'd like a copy in exchange for a review (an HONEST review - you can give it 1 star and say you hated it...although more stars would be preferred, obviously) then please send me a message.

You can read more at www.memoirsofaman.com, I can provide a Kindle, pdf or epub copy, and here's the book blurb:

-
A cross between American Psycho and The Nanny Diaries, MEMOIRS OF A MAN tells the story of Paul Rogers.

Paul is not a good man, but he’s not a bad man either. He’s a man who, due to a high-earning wife and company lay-offs, finds himself at home looking after his baby son.

His days as a rare and angry male care-giver take him through swimming pools full of naked mothers to lesbian support groups, telling lies to ex-colleagues about Filipino nannies and leaving obscene comments on parenting blogs. Throughout it all, Paul’s life lurches like a badly-maintained stroller towards a devastating and liberating conclusion: his baby’s first day in daycare.

MEMOIRS OF A MAN was written by a group of stay-at-home Dads who wanted to tell the comical truth of their existence. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but to get revenge on the guilty everything else has been left untouched.

This is a novel for consenting adults about childcare. Based on a very true story, it should be read by every father, every potential father, and any woman who wants to know what really goes on when baby is left with Daddy.
-

I will warn you again that the book is fairly rude and controversial from the start, but is also truthful and funny – everything in there is based on the very real experiences we've had, and we believe it speaks to a so-far fairly ignored audience. We’re doing all our own publicity, and are just after some reviews, really.

Please send me a message if you're interested in getting a copy!

Hugh Stacey ([email protected])

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

I'm afraid the American Psycho reference puts me off. When I see that I expect misogyny, either overt or unconscious.

[hughstacey]

Don't worry - I have similar feelings towards The Nanny Diaries ;)

[AugustVZ]

The American Psycho/Nanny Diaries thing puts me off too. I know it's supposed to be a snappy intro line, but it's such a clunker: trying too hard to shock, without conveying anything about the actual book.

It also sounds a bit like one of those parody pitches: this movie is Jaws meets Finding Nemo.

Beyond name recognition, what relation does American Psycho actually bear to this? I'm assuming there's no graphic violence, porn sex with prostitutes, or (please) detailed descriptions of stereo equipment. I know AP is a social satire, but IMO that aspect hasn't dated well, so it's also a tired reference.

And if your narrator veers between emotional detachment and total psychosis, then that's probably a fair description of anyone dealing with toddlers all day, but there's nothing to convey his character in your intro: 'not a good man, but not a bad man either' says zero.

The Nanny Diaries is also a bit off, too, since a) it's written from the perspective of a professional, not a parent, and b) it's crap.

[hughstacey]

Thank you AugustVZ! Allow me to elaborate...

You're right, of course, that the idea is the juxtaposition of two books, which is why when TheCountess focused on American Psycho I had to reply about The Nanny Diaries. It's nonsense, right? So far apart that such a thing couldn't exist (at least Nemo and Jaws are both about fish, I guess). Conversely, it also places insanity and full-time childcare in proximity which, as you point out, can be accurate.

The blurb contains a lot of these juxtapositions (good/bad, innocent/guilty, liberating/devastating) because "stay-at-home" and "dad" is, as far as all of us related to this book have found, a juxtaposition that plenty still find ridiculous and hilarious ("stay-at-home mom" is also something that veers in and out of social acceptability). A lot of the book is, inevitably, a comment on that.

Finally, evoking American Psycho, a book that's renowned for accusations of misogyny (for those who know it - for those who don't the title is evocative on its own), when describing a book by and about stay-at-home dads...I mean, that's ridiculous too, right? How can we be misogynists when our role is to support our wives in still-male-dominated workplaces? This novel, by its very conception, has to be authentically, radically, and intentionally feminist, unlike plenty that aren't but make the claim, overtly or unconsciously (cough-Caitlin Moran-cough, and maybe even The Nanny Diaries...) We play around with that idea in the book too.

I can't control whether you find any of that compelling or funny rather than clunky, but I do want you to know that we didn't just throw this $#!+ together :)

We would obviously like someone with your insight and eloquence (he says falteringly/flatteringly) to read and comment on the entire book, rather than just the blurb. Let me know!

[hughstacey]

Hi HaikuDiv732 - I didn't get to see your message before it disappeared. Feel free to PM me, as long as it's not too obscene...

Thanks to those who wanted to read and review - first reviews now up on Goodreads and Amazon, and I didn't even have to write them myself, which is nice.