vgkeane's review against another edition
2.0
I finally abandoned it on page 173. I couldn't take the self-centeredness and the misogyny and the false self-deprecating humor that was supposed to make it funny and ok. Sad. He's a good writer.
kairosdreaming's review
3.0
This review can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com or www.amazon.com as part of the Vine program.
kszymanski3087's review
1.0
This book should've been titled, "How I Became a Doormat to Three Women and a Chicken Without Killing Myself". It's comprised of a jumble of memories/complaints about how shitty his step-children and their stupid rooster are, all while his new wife laughs at him and he pines for his lost dog. It's repetitive and whiny. The poor guy loses his mind because he never thinks to take any time for himself, even though that is clearly what he is ALWAYS thinking about and needs. Geez, I hope this guy got divorced because that is the secret hope his book screamed out to me.
the_cheesiest_slytherin's review against another edition
4.0
The was a lot of jumping around in this book, jumping ahead and then going back, which goes on for pretty much the entire book. Otherwise, I really liked it.
lindzee's review against another edition
4.0
The writing was compelling and kept me interested for the whole book.
mholles's review against another edition
3.0
This is a memoir of McGory, a writer for the Boston Globe. He meets Pam, a divorced woman with two kids, a dog, and a rooster. As he adjusts to becoming a family man and a move to suburbia, he learns from the rooster how to enjoy what he has.
jessferg's review against another edition
2.0
My Amazon review: I've read quite a few of these "my life with chicken" memoirs and have enjoyed most. Usually they involve the chicken. This one mostly involves dogs and an egocentric journalist. We don't really even get to the chicken until almost 100 pages. What should be the bulk of the book (based on the targeting) about the rooster and the author facing up against each other is summed up in about four pages. His trip to get American Girl Dolls takes six. This book is really just a memoir that happens to have a chicken in it.
I am, obviously, put out about that given the prominence of the rooster on the cover, in the title and flap copy but even if this were marketed correctly as a straight memoir, it would still be hard to like since the author comes across as a self-centered jerk. He's constantly bemoaning his "past life" in the city before he married his (probably not for long) current wife and moved to the suburbs. He makes so many references to how "tired" or "exhausted" his wife looks you wonder if maybe she's got chronic fatigue syndrome and no one noticed. He throws both her kids and their "suburban lifestyle" under the bus a million times. He talks about his not-yet wife carrying heavy loads of laundry upstairs, making lunches and snacks, cooking dinner - and never offers to help this allegedly exhausted woman who can't even stay awake past her kids' bedtime while he hops in his car to get back to his apartment where he can relax and eat ice cream. At one point my reading notes read "If my husband seemed as put out about the transition from "me" to "we" as this guy, I'd be TRAINING the rooster to attack him. This isn't an "honest" look at a relationship, it's a slap in the face to his wife and her kids and it makes him sound like a 13 year old. On the back of my ARC it reads "Will Brian learn the secret to family harmony or find himself packing?" - for the love of God, Pam, send him packing."
I stand by that thought. Although I'm not a fan of the wife, either. She is obviously only letting this seriously flawed human hang around for the same reason she let this poor rooster hang around - she feels sorry for him. I know it's the author putting forth the views, and he isn't flattering about his wife on any other front, but the woman is a vet and yet she thinks she can ride a chicken around in a car, take him on vacation and feed him cheese and chicken nuggets with oatmeal and corn. (For those of you who really don't know - chickens should not eat chicken. Or cheese.)
The author mostly talks about how much he loves his single life in the city and HIS dogs - yes even the wife's DOG bugs this guy who proclaims to adore dogs - so perhaps this would be a good book for Marley and Me fans - but probably not.
I am, obviously, put out about that given the prominence of the rooster on the cover, in the title and flap copy but even if this were marketed correctly as a straight memoir, it would still be hard to like since the author comes across as a self-centered jerk. He's constantly bemoaning his "past life" in the city before he married his (probably not for long) current wife and moved to the suburbs. He makes so many references to how "tired" or "exhausted" his wife looks you wonder if maybe she's got chronic fatigue syndrome and no one noticed. He throws both her kids and their "suburban lifestyle" under the bus a million times. He talks about his not-yet wife carrying heavy loads of laundry upstairs, making lunches and snacks, cooking dinner - and never offers to help this allegedly exhausted woman who can't even stay awake past her kids' bedtime while he hops in his car to get back to his apartment where he can relax and eat ice cream. At one point my reading notes read "If my husband seemed as put out about the transition from "me" to "we" as this guy, I'd be TRAINING the rooster to attack him. This isn't an "honest" look at a relationship, it's a slap in the face to his wife and her kids and it makes him sound like a 13 year old. On the back of my ARC it reads "Will Brian learn the secret to family harmony or find himself packing?" - for the love of God, Pam, send him packing."
I stand by that thought. Although I'm not a fan of the wife, either. She is obviously only letting this seriously flawed human hang around for the same reason she let this poor rooster hang around - she feels sorry for him. I know it's the author putting forth the views, and he isn't flattering about his wife on any other front, but the woman is a vet and yet she thinks she can ride a chicken around in a car, take him on vacation and feed him cheese and chicken nuggets with oatmeal and corn. (For those of you who really don't know - chickens should not eat chicken. Or cheese.)
The author mostly talks about how much he loves his single life in the city and HIS dogs - yes even the wife's DOG bugs this guy who proclaims to adore dogs - so perhaps this would be a good book for Marley and Me fans - but probably not.