You're Not Doing It Right
Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations
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4.3 • 162 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Following his first book of hilarious essays in My Custom Van, Michael Ian Black expands his commentary to the subject that has made him one of the most-followed celebrities on Twitter: his irreverent take on the joys of suburban family life.
In the tradition of Christian Lander’s hipster/yuppie-friendly bestselling catalog of observations in Stuff White People Like, Michael Ian Black delivers his unique brand of quirky, deadpan humor in this new collection of comedic essays. Now that Black has become the guy he swore he’d never be—a Yuppie A-Hole—he has a lot to say about his family life in suburbia, and he shares his incisive yet absurd observations with readers in Clappy as a Ham.
Chronicling his adventures from cruising the neighborhood for his inevitable future “divorce house” (despite being happily married) to listening to Lite FM and realizing he loves it, Black delivers his straightfaced musings with the same sardonic humor that has earned him a rabid cult following. Want to know the pros and cons of Kashi GoLean Crunch or why kindergarten recitals are so boring? Looking for tips for lying to your kids about Santa? Clever, dry, and laugh-out-loud funny, Clappy as a Ham will “blow your mind all over your face” just like My Custom Van.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this memoir, comedian-performer-screenwriter Black provides a humorous take on his path from New Jersey kid through single Manhattan guy to suburban husband and father. Black lost his father early and was primarily raised by his mother and her lesbian partner. An interest in the theater led him to sketch-writing gigs and a show on MTV and VH-1's I Love the... series. However, Black's focus is on private life and we learn of his dating mishaps, fear of marriage, dislike of children, various health problems, and the guilty pleasure of buying a new BMW. Nothing about Black comes gracefully. He tells us he can't stand his wife; he's not very good at sex; and he notes that raising children is horrible. When he tries marijuana for the first time on his honeymoon, he passes out in an Amsterdam hash bar. Black positions himself as a kind of infantile fool. This is all shtick, of course, and Black can often be amusing in his role, but the succession of one-liners grows monotonous. He doesn't lack ability as a writer, but his attempts at greater emotional range, such as the section on his father's death, are undercut by his reduction of everyone to a sit-com stereotype.
Customer Reviews
Great book!
I laughed, I highlighted lots of wise sections, I'm sorry it's over!
A must-read for anyone married with kids
A funny confessional book, in the same vein as Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris. My favorite chapter is the one about marriage counseling- anyone married for 10+ years will laugh out loud at his spot-on and hilarious description of just how ridiculous we can become in our relationships with our spouses. Marriage is, as he says "very hard work", and books like this help us to laugh at the hard parts.
You're Not Doing It Right!
I loved this book! It was a perfect mix of humor in real-life situations. There were plenty of deep thoughts but not so much that the average guy reading it would realize and stop reading it. ;-) For the average woman though, plenty to keep the brain working. Also, makes our marriage and us look good. Haha. Seriously though, I have been recommending it to everyone and have read a few passages, ok chapters, out loud, to my family (especially the chapter on the new baby-I had twins who were colicky until they could walk, I have never read from someone else, or been able to articulate to anyone just how horrific it got (I Love my children but, JC, they made us insane) in such a funny way-it was laugh out loud, making me cry humor) which has annoyed the crap out of them and made them want to read more, alone.