Review: The Great Big Book of Guys by Erika Ritter

Title: The Great Big Book of Guys: Alphabetical Encounters with Men
Author: Ritter, Erika
Length: 322 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography
Source: Chapters Indigo sale bin
Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: It looked funny, and was under $5.
Date Read: 29/03/10

This book was not what I thought it was going to be. Actually, I am not sure what I thought it would be. I expected something light and funny that talked about boys, I guess. It is light, and talks about boys, but not so funny.

This book is more of a memoir of her life though written around male figures in her life – father, grandfather, boyfriends, friends, husbands, ex-husbands, and etc. Each chapter is a letter of the alphabet, so the book starts with Amigos and ends with Zealots. In between we see such characters as Imaginary Men, Noncommitals, and Underdogs. Some chapters seem to push it a bit, such as Ken Dolls which is about male (children’s!) toys.

What I wasn’t a fan of with this book is the way that everything is centered around a male. It isn’t so much her life with men, in a lot of parts it is her life through men. Not that this is how she lived, but this is how it reads. I am impressed that she was able to come up with a male related theme for each chapter and somehow relate it to her life but I wish there had been a bit more humor and also a bit more living without men.