Review: I Suck At Girls

I Suck At Girls by Justin Halpern

Format: eBook
Pages: 176
Published: May 15, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Non-Fiction, Humour

My Rating: 3/5

Summary (from chapters.ca):

"Human beings fear the unknown. So, whatever's freaking you out, grab it by the balls and say hello. Then it ain't the unknown anymore and it ain't scary. Or I guess it could be a shitload scarier."

Fans of the #1 bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says will recognize the always-patient voice of Justin Halpern's dad as it crackles through the pages of this hysterical new book. The story begins when Justin takes his dad out to lunch to announce that he''s decided to propose to his girlfriend.

"You've been dating her for four years," his dad replies. "It ain't like you found a parallel fucking universe."

But eventually he gives Justin some advice: that he should take a day off and think back over everything he's learned in life about women, relationships, and himself before making his decision. And that's just what Justin does-revisiting everything from his disastrous childhood crushes to the night he finally lost his virginity while working as a dishwasher at Hooters.

I Suck at Girls is full of his dad's patented brand of wisdom. But it's also full of new characters just as funny as his dad - from his brother, who provides insights into wedding night rituals ("You stand in one corner of the room, and she stands in the other. You each take off one piece of clothing at a time") to his first boss, who warns Justin to man up: "That's what a man does. He takes his shots and then he scrubs the shit out of some dishes." The result is a pilgrim's progress through the landscape of sex and love - by one of the funniest writers at work today.

Review:

If only we had thought of writing every funny thing someone said to us down, we would all be millionaires.  Either that or it would be old news at this point.

My husband read Justin Halpern's first book, 'Shit My Dad Says' but then lent it out before I was able to read it so I went into 'I Suck At Girls' fairly blind.  I say fairly because I did watch some of the TV show while it was still on air.  That being said, I really don't feel that I was the target audience for this book and really found that it was lacking in the laughter I was expecting when I picked it up.  This is especially true after hearing the laughter from my husband as he read it just last week.

I guess I thought that it would be more of a one-liner, fast and furious, laughter filled book and less of a prequel into Justin's life.  It was okay, probably exactly the same story that many MANY men have lived through and because of that, I just found the story to be... okay.  The fact that it was a shorter book made up for the overall flow of the story because I felt as though I wasn't investing a ton of time in it.

Overall, it wasn't a total dud because I did chuckle at some points but it wasn't what I was hoping it would be.  Justin's dad, can't recall his name, was really funny so I do think that I will read Shit My Dad Says, should it ever resurface in our home!