122nd out of 204 books
—
170 voters
The Average American Male
by
Chad Kultgen
Are you ready to meet the average American male?
Paperback, 246 pages
Published
March 1st 2007
by Harper Perennial
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This was the worst book I've ever read. I mean abysmally bad. In fact, it may be the only book I've ever actually had to stop reading because it was so horrible. I skipped to the end and that, too, was really bad. Basically, this book was a piece of crap.
I literally vomited on the book! No joke!!
It's actually a great story. My lesbo neighbor lent my lesbro friend and I this book and I took several months to try to read it. One day I got alcohol poisoning and spewed off the side of my bed and onto the cum- white cover of this novel! The next morning I found dried up puke encrusted onto The American American Male and had a great, good laugh! How perfect was it that I spewed on this book; I can't really make this stuff up and I don't re...more
It's actually a great story. My lesbo neighbor lent my lesbro friend and I this book and I took several months to try to read it. One day I got alcohol poisoning and spewed off the side of my bed and onto the cum- white cover of this novel! The next morning I found dried up puke encrusted onto The American American Male and had a great, good laugh! How perfect was it that I spewed on this book; I can't really make this stuff up and I don't re...more
I read this book in 2 sittings at a nearby Barnes and Noble. The writing is that light and disposable. It is also completely obscene, misogynist, heavy-handed and at times, spot on. Depending on your sensitivities, you might really enjoy this look into the most base and obvious tendencies of the "Average American Male." You might also be revolted. Either way, don't spend any money on it - you can knock this thing out in hour and a half at a book store.
Vile, unsympathetic to every female, and completely, unashamedly, and unabashedly, honest.
It's a memoir, in a sense. This guy has never existed, and on the other hand, he is EVERY guy that has ever existed. He's the guy that hates it when people call when he's right in the middle of a game of Halo. He's the guy that downloads so much porn that he has separate folders for different fetishes on his desktop. He's the guy that's completely confused as to why Marie Osmond is famous. We n...more
It's a memoir, in a sense. This guy has never existed, and on the other hand, he is EVERY guy that has ever existed. He's the guy that hates it when people call when he's right in the middle of a game of Halo. He's the guy that downloads so much porn that he has separate folders for different fetishes on his desktop. He's the guy that's completely confused as to why Marie Osmond is famous. We n...more
I was not impressed by this book at all. I swear, what some people will do in the name of "art."
Unfortunately, I HAVE met men like this (can anyone say college football team?), and although there are a lot of men out there like this, the author is really trumping up the "level" of manhood by calling the protagonist the "Average American Male."
I'd say he's more like the sub-average American Male. Most of whom, if any woman has any self r...more
Unfortunately, I HAVE met men like this (can anyone say college football team?), and although there are a lot of men out there like this, the author is really trumping up the "level" of manhood by calling the protagonist the "Average American Male."
I'd say he's more like the sub-average American Male. Most of whom, if any woman has any self r...more
Holy ass.
This book doesn't even deserve the time I'm about to take to talk about how awful it is. Does this guy really think we've already forgotten about American Psycho after just sixteen years? Replace the violence with more sex, then rewrite the entire thing with no sense of character, voice, description, vocabulary, consistency, intellect, emotion, subtlety, etc., and you get this pathetic excuse for a novel. Christ, the titles are even similar. I actually wouldn't be surprised ...more
This book doesn't even deserve the time I'm about to take to talk about how awful it is. Does this guy really think we've already forgotten about American Psycho after just sixteen years? Replace the violence with more sex, then rewrite the entire thing with no sense of character, voice, description, vocabulary, consistency, intellect, emotion, subtlety, etc., and you get this pathetic excuse for a novel. Christ, the titles are even similar. I actually wouldn't be surprised ...more
This is a really funny and purposely offensive stream-of-consciousness look into a few months in the life of a "typical" young man, as seen through his eyes. I read this at the bookstore; oddly enough it was recommended by a female via her Barnes and Noble "employee picks" card on the bookshelf, with the review "Not, I repeat, NOT for children." The mind of the narrator is obnoxious, sex-obsessed, and profane, but eventually you get used to it, it levels off, and ...more
Much in the tradition of American Psycho, this book sees the world from one man's idiosyncratic, shallow and selfabsorbed perspective, but where Ellis offers thought-provoking insight in the juxtaposition between the aestethic and the destructive, Kultgen offers just dirty words and juvenile sex fantasies - though it must be said, that he is both frank and very spot-on in his portrait of the suppressed male sexuality, it doesn't provoke much more than a lazy erection. His language is repetetive ...more
Tattered Cover Book Store
added it
Chris S says: "Kultgen's debut novel gives us a fairly accurate, very funny, rather crude and oddly touching portrait of the Average American Male."
Jackie says: "This book was horrifying to me, but I just couldn't put it down. When I finished I gave it to a guy friend of mine. When he was done reading, I asked him if this is really true--do guys REALLY think like this. He said 'pretty much'. I really do think women should read this book--not so that they will hate ...more
Jackie says: "This book was horrifying to me, but I just couldn't put it down. When I finished I gave it to a guy friend of mine. When he was done reading, I asked him if this is really true--do guys REALLY think like this. He said 'pretty much'. I really do think women should read this book--not so that they will hate ...more
I have to admit..I bought this book because I wanted to read My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me, but felt I should read the 'boyfriend's' book before I started it. Maybe if I hadn't known this was based on a real relationship (write what you know)I wouldnt' have been so appauled...but I did and I am. I absolutely hated this book. I have never been unable to finish a book...until now. Do men really jerk off every couple of hours all day long until they meet up with their girlfriends later to hav...more
The Average American Male follows a nameless character around Los Angeles, as he thinks with one part of his body from the first page of Chapter Two until the final page of the book. He spends most of the book chasing that woman on the airplane, Alyna, while basically running from his long-term girlfriend, Casey. Well then, what happens in Chapter One? Each chapter is titled and, if the titles aren't setting the scene or the mood, they're a clever quip about what you're going to be reading. ...more
I didn't love this book. I didn't hate it either, but I couldn't stop reading it.
That's not to say that it was so great that I couldn't put it down. I read it on an Ipod and the pages were barely a paragraph long, so it was easy to rip through. There weren't many insights to stop and reflect on, and there were no passages that made me stop to contemplate how I might adapt the stylistic renderings of the author. This book read like one of those late-night television shows that you wa...more
That's not to say that it was so great that I couldn't put it down. I read it on an Ipod and the pages were barely a paragraph long, so it was easy to rip through. There weren't many insights to stop and reflect on, and there were no passages that made me stop to contemplate how I might adapt the stylistic renderings of the author. This book read like one of those late-night television shows that you wa...more
This book either resonates with you or it doesn't. Look, the fact is that while all guys probably aren't (and shouldn't be) as misogynistic as this character, we all have those thoughts at one point or another. Call us sick, call us childish, call us disgusting, but it happens. The book has its faults. But as gross and outlandish as this book can be, the one thing it gets right are the feelings of trapped desperation that loads of men go through; the author captures them on the page. Hell, I was...more
I can't really say if I liked this book because it was actually good, or if it was just shocking.
Warning, here be spoilers.
The Average American Male is an honest (almost to the point of being embarrassing) story about a twenty-something man and his quest for the next hook-up. There were times that I was appalled by what I was reading (when the main character said that the gross homeless woman was in the 98% of the female population that he would have sex with) and others...more
Warning, here be spoilers.
The Average American Male is an honest (almost to the point of being embarrassing) story about a twenty-something man and his quest for the next hook-up. There were times that I was appalled by what I was reading (when the main character said that the gross homeless woman was in the 98% of the female population that he would have sex with) and others...more
The only reason I managed to finish this book it because I thought that there had to be some kind of turning point in the book. Something that makes you think, "Ah ha, that's why this book is this obscene for 250 or so pages." No. Nothing of this nature whatsoever. Just the "memoirs" of the typical American male. No lessons learned. No change of heart. Just a guy, being an asshole, which is all us guys are good at doing. Lessons from the book (ones that I have seen b...more
So these are the books that are making it onto the shelves at Urban Outfitters? Marketed to teenagers and young adults? This book is the precise reason I'm convinced our culture is going to crap. Chad Kultgen must be a master of "the hook" because the first sentence in the novel is by far the best and last. This book has about as much value as the Kardashians or an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. Shock value used to be associated with "banned books" that fearlessly brought a ...more
It's really intelligent to keep us unsuspecting of the "philosophical view" till the very end. I followed the hollow lives of the characters with true sadness, and when the pointlessness is revealed it all makes sense.
In his unique rebellious way, Mr. Kultgen sharply illustrates the banality of young women today, and the succumbing and numbing of young men.
But it's not all maudlin and tears. Mr.K wakes us up with shock therapy. He is a hard judge, thus the hard language. He...more
In his unique rebellious way, Mr. Kultgen sharply illustrates the banality of young women today, and the succumbing and numbing of young men.
But it's not all maudlin and tears. Mr.K wakes us up with shock therapy. He is a hard judge, thus the hard language. He...more
It's LA Candy for men. Features most of the worst misogyny I've ever encountered and usually complaints like that are bullshit. People complain about Daisy's line in Gatsby w/r/t a fool being the best thing a girl can be. They actually get upset about that shit, like it set women back nearly as much as Laguna Beach, The Hills, or LA Candy did. I don't mention SLL because that set animate life back at least 20 years.
So if you got offended by Gatsby, be prepared to break into instant ...more
So if you got offended by Gatsby, be prepared to break into instant ...more
A lot of people seem to wholly miss the point of this book, both those (few as they may be here on Goodreads) who like and those who are either indifferent or find it offensive/misogynistic/obnoxious/pornographic/juvenile...etc.
Now I'll admit that this book is highly up for interpretation, and perhaps I'm the one that's misinterpreting what the book is saying, but I don't think I am, at least not wholly. Here's why: this book speaks directly to me, and it doesn't to most people. Desp...more
Now I'll admit that this book is highly up for interpretation, and perhaps I'm the one that's misinterpreting what the book is saying, but I don't think I am, at least not wholly. Here's why: this book speaks directly to me, and it doesn't to most people. Desp...more
I actually liked this book a great deal. The writing is good and the story is gripping. The anger that seems to fill almost every thought of the main character can be a little wearying, but it fits his character. Not everything is pleasant after all. The shit some of the other characters put onto him isn't pleasant either, but it's part of the story and that's the way it is. The real thing I liked, and I could be completely wrong on this, is the irony between the title and the main characte...more
It's difficult for me to say whenever I or not I enjoyed this book. I honestly don't even know if I can recommend it to anybody I know. I suppose, overall, I thought it was well-written, and it kept my interest, and made me laugh out loud on several occasions--so, three stars, a rating which, in this case, means just about nothing.
The story is a first-person narrative detailing the sexual adventures, thoughts, and motivations of a man in his late twenties. From the very beginning,...more
The story is a first-person narrative detailing the sexual adventures, thoughts, and motivations of a man in his late twenties. From the very beginning,...more
Mark Trujillo
added it
Honestly I was surprised with the initial level of narcissism given to the reader from the protagonist. The use of the first-person perspective attributed to the voice, which was authentic, as much as I can imagine a person residing in Los Angeles, or let me rephrase that, to a heterosexual white male living in Los Angeles. What I absolutely consumed from the book was the protagonist's libido. It was spot on for a young male, regardless of sexual preference, which kept me reading. I immediately ...more
I read this book once. And will only ever read this book once.
Let me elaborate... The writing is decent enough for a journal-style piece from the viewpoint of a 20-something male. The writing is what got me to actually finish this book. It's actually quite well written. Style-wise. If you can stand the proverbial crap-ton of profanity.
The story is, well, another story. To boil it down, it's a journal by this "average american male" who is so self-involved and ...more
Let me elaborate... The writing is decent enough for a journal-style piece from the viewpoint of a 20-something male. The writing is what got me to actually finish this book. It's actually quite well written. Style-wise. If you can stand the proverbial crap-ton of profanity.
The story is, well, another story. To boil it down, it's a journal by this "average american male" who is so self-involved and ...more
I hate to break it to the girl who was not impressed, but honestly, if you cant see the humor in the book, you are prolly something of the following. Considering that she has met men like this, she could be a casey! Or maybe she doesnt like the facts of life, that men react to what women do, the way they really do act like complete, well, the book shows it pretty well, and just aren't happy with how it shows the average american female?
And btw to the guy about american psycho, that i...more
And btw to the guy about american psycho, that i...more
I haven't been so riveted by a book so recently that I finished a book so quickly. It engulfed me. Is a very misogynistic book but it hits it's mark more times then not I love this book and it's feral kernels of truth it goes perfectly with tucker max's "I hope they serve beer in hell" it's a must read for men and if women really want to know what men are liked or think stripped of all the sheen and bullshit they should read this to find out the horrible truth now true not all men are ...more
If American Psycho is an upscale strip club, luscious curves and long thighs, your hands gently stroking hips as the lapdance gets going- this book is Hooters: Awkward adolescents in hot shorts with buffalo wings.
Not a single idea in the entire thing that wasn't prefigured by Ellis.
Probably the most accurate critique I can muster is that the friend who reccommended it to me bought her copy at Urban Outfitters.
Confused, belabored thesis: Kultgen apparently be...more
Not a single idea in the entire thing that wasn't prefigured by Ellis.
Probably the most accurate critique I can muster is that the friend who reccommended it to me bought her copy at Urban Outfitters.
Confused, belabored thesis: Kultgen apparently be...more
The title of the book is very deceiving; I was expecting a unique view in to the struggles of the average American male with a detailed discussion of gender roles and or a perspective opposite of the feminist movement. What I got was some guy talking about how he wants to bang everything with a pulse and the constant whining of how his girl friend’s start out at the best girls in the world but lose interest of having sex with him after a year and eventually try to force a marriage a out of him. ...more
eh.
the beginning of this book was so strong. i was repulsed, but still intrigued enough to continue reading. by the end of the book i was still equally as disgusted as i was when i had started it, but most of what i was reading was so predictable none of it really surprised me. also, while i was half way through with the book i made the mistake of looking up a picture of the author. just by the way that he wrote, and the things that he was describing, i thought that he would be at l...more
the beginning of this book was so strong. i was repulsed, but still intrigued enough to continue reading. by the end of the book i was still equally as disgusted as i was when i had started it, but most of what i was reading was so predictable none of it really surprised me. also, while i was half way through with the book i made the mistake of looking up a picture of the author. just by the way that he wrote, and the things that he was describing, i thought that he would be at l...more
Cruel, cold, and heartless is the best way to describe this novel. An unflinchingly brutal take on the modern male. It's deeply addictive, and is so ugly that you can't help but drink the death out of its pages. Obviously and almost plageristically resembles a less intelligent version of Ellis' 'American Psycho' in both tone and structure. Sorry Chad, but you can't rip off one of the most exciting authors of our time and expect no one to notice. As for Mr. Kultgen's writing, it is well crafted a...more
ugh. wish i had those 2 hours reading this by the pool of my life back. i shouldve indulged in an us weekly or star magazine instead. i hope girls dont read this and adjust anything in their attitude or life because of it. it's just plain insulting to men, and entirely false. of course, im aware that its a "comment" on the male psyche, but that doesnt make it any less distasteful or crude.
my biggest problem with the book was that he didn't even smoke weed. he just jerked off...more
my biggest problem with the book was that he didn't even smoke weed. he just jerked off...more
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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 Sc...more
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