Nice Average Guy

By Ned Mansour

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1935098179
• ISBN13: 9781935098171
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Bascom Hill Publishing Group
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A Great, Uplifting Read!

"Nice Average Guy" is a wonderful, uplifting read. This is the perfect book to take on a plane. The plot holds your interest without overwhelming you with characters, names, or events. It's a completely reasonable tale which is very soothing. This is a story that could have happened to one of your friends-- and probably has! As you read, you are subtly led along with the main character toward greater self awareness. This makes for a very satisfying reading experience. After reading it, you are left with a pleasant feeling and a sense that you are better off for having read it. One of the characters in this book is so memorable; you will wish you knew him. Highly recommended!

Ned Mansour does it again !

Another great book by Ned Mansour. It is an optimistic view of life's ups and downs; it teaches us not to give up when pushing that boulder over the cliff--especially when it appears and feels as an endless and daunting task. "Nice Average Guy" is an entertaining, thought-provoking, and motivational book.

Get this book!

You'll enjoy this book. Ned Mansour beautifully weaves just enough introspective life learning into a very fun and flowing story. This is a book that will make you glad you read it, and give you the perfect amount of contemplation as you're moving through it. A good story with interesting characters and circumstances. Ned did it again and in my view, has given himself some competition for his best book: Divided Roads (a must read!). Thanks Ned!

Ultimately this book goes beyond the surface to look closely at the world of relationships.

We read most novels to see how the main character reacts to the events of his or her life, but this book puts us squarely in the middle, making us wonder what we would do. Fitz Gerald, at 43, 1) has lost his job, 2) suffers the death of his mother, and 3) is being divorced by his overbearing wife, Penny. As the title indicates, there is nothing that special about him (or the average reader, for that matter), but he does have a rather unorthodox personal councilor, Coach, who not only assists him but directly gives us the subtext of what is really at stake. There are some humorous touches--"I was supposed to visualize the room being enveloped in the color I had selected that day... Quite honestly, I never visualized the room in any color, but I claimed I did just to get the sessions started." The corporate politics rings true (though his after the fact negotiation with his former boss reminded me a little too much of Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty). Ultimately this book goes beyond the surface to look closely at the world of relationships. I was hooked when Coach asks Fitz if he might have misinterpreted some things his parents said to him when he was young that consequently formed his later, passive personality. This immediately got me thinking about my own parents and what they may have said that I took the wrong way. Fitz's mother knows more about his marriage than he does and the terms of her subsequent will bring about its long-overdue demise. So what takes the place of all this? Meeting with three other laid-off employees and going to movie matinees. Lining up a date for the father of an old girl friend with the father's former lover (except she won't have anything to do with the old man so her sister agrees to be a substitute), giving advice to his wife's young boyfriend who has locked himself in their bathroom and refuses to come out. Nothing seems off limits. The sculpture on the front proves strangely interactive for readers as well as characters and the ending is very satisfying (and thanks, Ned, for your appreciative treatment of military vets). The back cover talks about "profound lessons of worthiness." Who would have thought that learning them could be so much fun? All royalties from the sale of "Nice Average Guy" are being donated by the author to the TrinityKids Care hospice program.