Normal Guy

You've wondered about this, admit it

Revisado: 03-11-21

It deals with the economic collapse of the United States brought on by its staggering, unpayable debt. The impacts on society are shown through the eyes of 4 generations of a family, the Mandibles.

This book was incredibly gripping. I was shocked at how quickly I couldn't put it down. I tore through the 14 hour reading in less than a week. The author first makes you care about an extended family. Then shows how their lives are impacted as the wheels start to come off the cart of the US monetary system. Then quickly, how the rules of society begin progressively breaking down.

Outside of the story look at it this way. At this point in time, we are on one side of history... the "pre-default" side. When the US eventually defaults, from that point forward we'll think of any events thereafter as happening "after the default". When will it happen in real life? 2025? 2029 as the book suggests? Do we hold out a few years longer and get to 2032? Its impossible to know when exactly its going to happen. The book's brilliance is that she makes you CARE about this thought experiment of what it might look like in the lives of real people once the great default occurs.

The first two-thirds of the book are so intense that it literally was effecting my sleep in a big way. In the final third or so things have leveled off for a vastly diminished United States. Things are pretty bleak, but more stable at least. My ability to sleep returned as I read that portion.

Strongly recommend.

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Fascinating take - very impressed

Revisado: 01-17-20

I enjoyed this book greatly. As someone who read the Rationale Male and found it very compelling, this book illustrates the same principles, but from the female perspective.

Im very happy that both genders are learning that the claptrap we’ve all been taught doesn’t serve the needs of either men or women. Men’s value can increase greatly over time, putting them in the position of power above age 33 or so. But what good is that if they dont know that will happen, and settle quickly on a woman while they are somewhat powerless to them in their 20s? Men should ignore cultural messages about women holding all the cards in dating. that is quite true at first, but utterly untrue later in life.

Men - work on improving yourselves in your 20s. If women don’t seem interested at first, smile to yourself and KNOW that the shoe will be on the other foot soon enough 😀

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Excellent Book - Painful if you're already married

Revisado: 01-20-19

If you're already married, this book can be tough to read. Its painful to suddenly have your eyes opened, only to realize you've made your life unnecessarily difficult.

If you're single, I'm overjoyed for you if you read this! Listen and learn.

Men have about 15 times the level of testosterone in their bodies than women do. Really letting this sink in might be the most vital learning in any of Tomassi's writings. Your partner isn't evil, and she isn't consciously trying to trick you. She's simply not driven to do things sexually once you're married no matter how handsome, witty, charming, and successful you are. It would be like her wondering why you don't share her desire to go shoe-shopping. It's just not a part of who you are, although to make her happy you might go once in awhile. That's the parallel.

Prior to marriage is a completely different story, for reasons you'll learn. That's why I rejoice for any single men who read this. Don't waste one moment being angry at women for not being like men when it comes to sex. Just learn and understand why they are the way they are, and live your life accordingly: Single, if you enjoy sex. Married if sex isn't that important to you.

Enjoy the book!

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A shocking and enlightening work

Revisado: 04-07-18

Would you listen to The Rational Male again? Why?

Yes. The ideas presented are very compelling - yet so alien to our normal western cultural norms that I expect it will take another pass for much of it to really sink in.

What did you like best about this story?

The author clearly does not "hate" women, nor does he appear to condone anyone that does. That's good, and I'd have a hard time with this work otherwise. Instead, he explains the reasons why women's behavior does not match up with what our culture teaches us, and how it leads to a rigged game that penalizes males quite severely. This is presented quite convincingly, almost exhaustively, and yet it is so different than what our culture teaches that - to me, at least - this was wildly refreshing, jarring, and fascinating.

Which scene was your favorite?

No so much one particular scene, but the presentation of the AFC, average frustrated chump, which is the end result of what our culture creates en masse, is fascinating. I believe that most American men find with astonishment that they are AFCs, and this book explains how they got there. More importantly, it charts the difficult but definitely not impossible path out.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to, but it's a bit too long for that.

Any additional comments?

The book contains information that is very counter-intuitive, which makes for a fascinating read. If you are a father of any male, my guess is that you'll recommend this work to your sons. I have. Read it and you'll see why.

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Drives a conclusion the author doesn't intend....

Revisado: 03-27-18

I wanted to like this book. I thought I'd gain some insights into how women view men, and their various actions. And to give some credit, I did learn a few. The Director-archetype was compelling to me, and I've actually used that knowledge in my relationship to drive decisions without collaboration to a much greater extent. It always goes over better than an endless cycle of "I don't know, where do YOU want to have dinner?". So that's good.

However as the author continues to drone on and on about all of the various ways that men need to meet women's complex and every changing needs, as a regular guy I began to feel like, "you know what? I love women like most guys, but they really aren't worth all THAT." My interest in listening began to drop off rapidly at that point, although I soldiered on another hour or so and listened to more detailed, tenuous requirements of handling women's needs. Yawn.

I give the woman credit for taking a stab at defining what she wants. But it comes off the same way it would if a man just sat down and cranked out chapter after chapter of how women can best serve his needs. While perhaps its a cathartic experience for the author, the rest of us are left rolling our eyes.

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I'm shocked that I can still be this surprised

Revisado: 07-18-17

When I first began listening to this book, I found it compelling, but slightly depressing. The delivery was good, the arguments were logically argued and researched, but at first it wasn't terribly surprising (even if it WAS a terrible situation). But then as the book progressed, and the level of intimacy between most of the media, and operatives of one of the political parties was exposed, I was shocked at the extent of it. Again - not the presence of it per se - but the extent. That reporters who hound one political party were sucking up to members of the other major party were doing so to a naked extent that I simply was surprised by.

The banal back and forth of transactional journalism, as revealed by the WikiLeaks emails, was eye opening, and revealed how it wasn't a grand scandal or something that they felt they needed to hide very much, but merely was accepted as the normal part of how they conduct their daily work.

Most on the political Right will listen and think "see, I knew it!" And they are correct, but they would be wrong to take comfort that their candidates are any better. What comes across is that the Republicans envy the Democratic smear machinery, and wish they could be even half as effective at destroying enemies as Media Matters is.

Nobody has the high ground here morally. But it is enlightening and very encouraging to see that this sense of unfairness in the media isn't just a figment of one's imagination, or perhaps driven by one's own bias. It IS real. Extremely real. And this book exposes that fact.

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Engrossing

Revisado: 06-09-17

This man's story is fascinating. Over time, you really begin to care deeply about what happens to him and Haus.

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Riveting - hated when my commute ended each day!

Revisado: 03-01-17

Would you listen to The End again? Why?

Possibly. The performance and delivery was perfect. The information and history is intriguing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Speer was interesting. While he was guilty of serving a hated regime, his organizational skill at doing the nearly impossible was commendable. The effect of prolonging the war was awful, but his management skill must have been amazing.

Have you listened to any of Sean Pratt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm not sure. He may be the best narrator I've ever heard though.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The story drew me in and fascinated me. Those final 9 months of the regime were fascinating. The fact that this is very rare for any country losing a war made it even more intriguing. I hadn't thought about that before, and the book brilliantly fleshed out how and why it ended up happening that way.

Any additional comments?

This book did not have a single "boring" chapter. An amazing period in world history.

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Fantastic! So validating

Revisado: 07-31-15

I enjoyed the content and delivery of this book very much. The author echoes many of the misgivings that I've had over the past 20 years about Christianity. This is a wonderful book they completely and thoroughly debunks Christian apologetics.

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Funny and insightful!

Revisado: 07-06-15

I very much enjoyed this book. the performance was excellent and the summaries of each book were very engaging. It's possible that it may offend the devout however they should see this as a unique communication device

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