Manology

December 10, 2012
Presumably written straight-faced with the stated goal of helping women better understand the men in their lives, actor/model/musician Gibson (How to Get Out of Your Own Way) and former rapper Rev Run (Take Back Your Family) team up to offer alternating and in some cases opposing insights into the hows and whys of the less-fair sex. But the Socratic dialogues this is not. Gibson blurts out bewilderingly shallow excuses for cheating (to wit: “it’s not the worst thing in the world.... It’s much worse to have to nurse your spouse through a serious sickness”), advises women to wait a good six months before sharing emotions with a partner, cautions them to be wary of overly religious suitors—preachers in particular (“hey could read ‘Humpty Dumpty’ to you and make it sound like the greatest novel ever”)—and offers plenty more absurd advice tempered with generous helpings of ego. If that isn’t enough to deter women from mastering manology, the incessant suffixing of “MAN–”to perfectly serviceable words (e.g., “MAN-tored” for, we assume, “mentored”) should do the trick. Tyrese’s tirades give Rev Run plenty of softballs to lob back as he closes each chapter with common sense and some reasonable recommendations, but it’s not enough to save this disconcerting MAN-scapade. Agent: Jillian Manus, Manus & Associates Literary Agency.