I was sitting on the benches at school, drinking a diet coke (of course) and studying for a test when I overheard two girls talking about this new author who had just been on Oprah. This guy, Greg Behrendt, was a writer on Sex in the City and he wrote a book entitled, "He's Just Not That Into You," which was taken from a very popular line in one of the episodes he had written.
So, always one to be intrigued by what is new in pop culture I joined in on their conversation and they praised and worshiped the ground this new book walked on. It was "revolutionary." It "totally cuts through the crap and gives it to women straight about men."
I am a skeptic when it comes to any book telling a reader how to conduct their live, but this does not mean I am not interested in these books. They fascinate me and while some are quite good, most fall into the piece of crap category.

This new book promises women a new insight to how men REALLY act when they like you. TO cut through it all he basically states that there are no excuses. An excuse is just code for, "he's just not that into you." Did not call you the day he said he would, "he's just not that into you." You know all those excuses for being not available at the moment...he is just not that into you. The conclusion of this book really stated that if a guy does not treat you like gold then he is just not that into you, no matter what "excuses" he might give. I am busy with work. I am in an emotional crisis. My grandma just died. Etc. Etc.

Really people this book is crap. Warning to men out there that this book is now sold out in almost every bookstore EVERYWHERE.

I do admit parts of this book are true. Ya know the parts any girl in their right mind would know. Of course, how a guy treats you depends on how much he is "into you." What pissed me off is this book put every single member of the male species into one tiny ball, rolled it up, and spit it back out to women in the form of a pompous, arrogant, asshole. Every guy is the same, they say. No exceptions. (Well he gives a 9/10 but who wants to compete with those odds)

Yes I do agree the part about a guy not being available basically means you are not the one for him. Or if a guy is a bully, tough cookies he does not love you. BUT COME ON?!?! This book reads like the second coming of The Rules and I thought everyone agreed that that was a joke not to be taken seriously. Not kidding, this book actually states a woman should never call the guy.

Let alone this author has no PhDs, masters or any experience except to state that once he found his wife he treated her golden and the excuses flew out the window.

Somewhere there is some poor girl who likes some poor guy and maybe the guy he too shy to ask her out. (I have a lot of guy friends who I have to practically kick just to talk to the girl they like.)

Somewhere a guy just got dumped because he had a bad day at work and retreated into some alone time.

Another guy is getting dumped because he did not call at 8:29 PM on Wednesday when he said he would.

This book is a big step back in the battle of the sexes. Didn't we come to the conclusion a few years ago that guys were humans as well? Did we not already establish that they have feelings, and mess up, and stumble, and get hurt? So what the hell just happened with this book? Will it be known as a parody in a few years to try to get more sales. God, I hope so.

I went on Amazon and read all the reviews. Here was the funniest thing I had seen yet. Every single guy reviewer gave it one star. Every single one. And why wouldn't they? Imagine a book telling guys about how when 100 % of women do this it means that? It saddened me though that most women were giving it four or five stars. A big kick in the butt, they wrote. Some said it had changed their lives. Oh please. A few smart women on there wrote these god-awful reviews, that I found hilarious, so thank goodness some women out there realize the truth.

This book is garbage people. I don't care what Oprah says or what any bestseller list says. Not a single person is the same. No one can be broken down into classes of behavior on a scale that is a 100% guarantee. Of course there are patterns, but like I said any women of sound mind and body would know them

So don't buy the book. Instead, call that guy and ask him if everything is ok because there might just be a sincere reason why he did not call.


Rant over...

Books to go buy right now instead if you really want to change your life...

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury. - This is a coming of age story about two young boys who are witness to an evil carnival that comes into their town to take peoples souls away, essentially. But, mostly it is about the good and "wicked" in all of us and how we need to accept our dark side. The imagery that Ray Bradbury is always able to give the reader is astounding. What is more shocking, though, is his ability to use the fantasy world, to show us the reality in which we should be living.

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho. - The story is short and to the point. It is a fable about a young shepherd boy who is on a journey to find his own destiny. The language is simplistic but rightfully so. It states two very important lessons. When someone really wants something, the universe will conspire to make it happen. Also, to realize ones own destiny is ones only obligation in life.

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius. - There is a reason this guy was so powerful. He was actually a freaking genius. There is not much to say here because the lessons in this book are too numerous. I will, however, put one of my favorite sections in for your viewing pleasure.

Even if you were going to live three thousand years, and even ten
thousand times that, still remember that no man loses any other life
than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he
now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For
the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the
same; and so what is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot
lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can
anyone take this from him? These two things then you must bear in mind:
the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round
in a circle, and it makes no difference whether a man shall see the
same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or a infinite time;
and the second, that he who lives longest and he who will die soonest
lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man
can be deprived , if it is true that this is the only thing which he
has, and that a man cannot lose something he does not already possess.




Stephen King - On Writing. - More for anyone who is or wants to be a writer. But, even if you are not, you can get something out of this. King has a system and it is one that works.

White Noise - Don Dellio. - It was here that we are introduced to the notion that everyone is either a killer or a dyer. The airborne toxic event is coming and the fear of inevitable death is on everyone’s mind. What does this fear of the mortal make us really think and do? Delillo uses binary opposition here wit the notion that we are killers and dyers. We are separated into the strong and the weak. The book is not as bleak as people make it out to be and the message can kick your butt.

Anything by Aristotle - any book is a must read. There is a reason why he was pretty much the only philosopher who led a happy life.


So really take my advice, there are books that can change your life, and many I have not listed here. However, none carry the title of, "How to get a man (or woman)," or my recent hate of "he is just not that into you." Hell throw away that "The Power of Now" crap as well, for they all say the same damn thing.

OK now the rant is really over....until tomorrow. I am high on caffeeine energy mints I did not know were energy mints until I took them. So as I won't be sleeping anytime this century I might just go find another REAL book to open my mind up to a new world of possibilities.