How to Remodel a Man: Tips and Techniques on Accomplishing Something You Know Is Impossible but Want to Try Anyway

By W. Bruce Cameron

Book Overview

Current research suggests there is a large group of people who have been trying to change men. For want of a better term, let's call these people "women." Their urge is understandable. We've all had to take measures to accommodate men, because they are involved in nearly every aspect of modern life except maybe housework and they like to run things like corporate meetings and the planet. The only other alternative has been to try to avoid men altogether, which is pretty hard to do if you are interested in stuff like reproduction or having your oil changed. That's why "How to Remodel a Man" is so indispensable-it is a clear, step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to alter the character and behavior of a man, written by an actual man. Author W. Bruce Cameron provides startling insight into male pattern thinking, explaining why men can open a refrigerator and not see the mayonnaise, or how it is that they can throw dirty clothes at the hamper or in front of the hamper or even on top of the hamper and yet not seem capable of getting any of it in the hamper. Normally, changing a man has certain obstacles, including, but not limited to, the fact that it is impossible. But Cameron is able to overcome this hindrance because he, himself, has been remodeled. In a move so bold it may be shocking to people unaccustomed to such personal courage, Cameron turned himself over to the women in his life and asked them to change him. It started with a list of his flaws (Cameron came up with four; the women came up with one hundred seventy eight) and ended with him writing "How to Remodel a Man," so that others could learn from his experience. If you're a woman, you'll be amazed to learn that men can be trained to perform all sorts of tricks, like using the instruments on the sides of their heads (the ears) to listen to you, and the space between those instruments to think about you. If you're a man, you've been given this book so that you'll see that it's possible to watch television without holding the remote or to ask for directions from strangers without suffering a catastrophic loss of testosterone. Cameron changed, and you can too. "How to Remodel a Man" is the essential guide for anyone in the awkward position of having to interact with a person of the male gender.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031233317X
• ISBN13: 9780312333171
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 1.1" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

Laugh Out Loud <LOL>

Buy this book ONLY if you want to "Laugh Out Loud." It has page after page of hilarious "helpful hints" -- ammunition for the ongoing battle of the sexes -- presented in a sillier, softer format, yet with a sly masculine slant. Chock-ful of light-hearted answers to everyday questions, like why a guy would want to go to a ball game in the snow wearing nothing but green greasepaint, the amusing text turns turns guff into guffaw. The author's comparison to the "map of Wyoming" is a pretty astute observation about what really goes on inside the male brain. On the flipside, the over-the-top mirth level takes some of the pain out of how much giving birth really hurts. Each chapter gets funnier. Presented ingenuously, the Seinfeld-like absurdity of everyday gender-specific topics forces readers to remind ourselves to laugh at/with, rather than leave, the significant other. I laughed so hard at the teaching the dog not to fart part that I dropped the book, and found my page again somewhere between wry and "way-witty." This writer is not just hilarious, he's absolutely hysterical! This Cameron dude takes humor writing to a whole new level. There's only one drawback: Jolly as it is, reading this book is a teensy bit sad because it makes you miss Erma Bombeck's newspaper column. I wish he would write a column for the major syndicates so we could pick up the newspaper and have a new laugh every day.

Sudy Hurst---current woman and recent reader of Bruce's book

Tired of War and Peace and want/need some fun, humorous reading? Read this book then! Page by page, the author highlights very funny facts about men that my male friends really do tell me they associate with and even find funny! My girlfriends think the book is hysterical and they make great gifts for book club or an easy read.......but only if you want to laugh!

Still chuckling

My wife kept laughing out loud while reading this book. I repeatedly asked to "borrow" it, but she had to share it with all her friends first. I finally had to buy my own copy! And I find myself laughing (at least chuckling) over Cameron's unique and sort of crazy sense of humor. I don't think I'm ready for remodeling (don't ask my wife), but I recognize myself on almost every page. I'm just macho enough to consider my traits "endearing." Would like to see a sequel about remodeling a woman !!

Hilarious and absolutely true!!

Laughed until I cried...can't decide which I like better, his meetings with his children in 8 Simple Rules or this book, which talks about men's inability to ask for directions, find things in the fridge, etc. Great book to read a little each night before bed or to give as a gift. What a great Christmas present for DAD, HUSBAND, BOYFRIEND, ADULT SON, Etc. I can't wait for his next one.

I Loved This Book!

I loved this book because it made fun of guys, but made me like guys all the more in the end. It seems like so often these books are written by women who don't like guys very much and they leave me feeling sad. Also, it is so full of laugh out loud hilarious stuff that my husband kept grabbing it away from me in bed, because I kept laughing so hard. What was great was that he thought all the stuff about what goofballs men are was funny too! Every woman dreams of actual being able to remodel their man, and surprisingly this book actually provides some insights into the way men think that could help you get along with your guy better. But in the end, I liked the message that the best way to get a guy to act the way you'd like is to love him, and then he'll automatically want to try and please you. Everybody always wants to bash men, but because this writer is so brutally honest about his own bad habits and flaws, it kind of made me see the guy's side of the picture. It also seems like he genuinely likes women, and thinks we are more evolved, which is of course true. I think this book would be a great gift for a girlfriend whose just gone through a breakup, because in the end, it would make her feel that no way is the perfect guy out there, but a real guy is out there, and real guys aren't perfect, but they are doing their best, flawed creatures that they are.