reimaginings

“Does This Dress Make Me Look Fat? - a man’s guide to the loaded questions women ask”, by Stephen James & David Thomas (2007, Tyndale)

 

Christian authors, James & Thomas, discuss with consistently disarming humor, the common conversational perplexities between men and women.  Each of the seven chapters present a frequent, seemingly straightforward, yet mine-field laden question asked of men - at one time or another - by a significant woman in his life.  The predictable misunderstandings, unwittingly disappointing male responses and the ensuing conversation(s) are deconstructed and then expertly worked through to a win-win solution for couples.   

 

The seven questions women ask their men are presented as chapter headings. They speak for themselves:  ‘Does this dress make me look fat?  ‘Do you notice anything different about the house?  ‘Do you think that woman is pretty?  ‘What are you thinking about?  ‘Am I like my mother?  Are you as happy as I am? and  ‘Is there anything you don’t like about me? 

 

Men often discover that merely reading the above chapter titles elicits a queasy feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they instantly recall their own, personal misadventures with each, or a very similar, question.  Alternatively, the uninitiated or unaware will be teased into the false assumption that he already knows or has always responded with the correct answer - only to have his self-confident foolishness diced on the table of feminine reality.  Listen up guys!  This book is a must read.

 

The authors hilariously illustrate each conversational dilemma from their own personal experiences.  They offer experienced insight into what actually underlies all seven double-barrel loaded questions.  Finally, they recommend to men a fresh, more informed, spiritually healthy, alternative response that truly engages a women’s expectations. 

 

The companion book for women called: “Yup. Nope. Maybe - a woman’s guide to getting more out of the language of men”, decodes the seeming vagaries of ‘manspeak’.  Again, eight common and immediately recognizable male statements form the chapter headings: “Yup. Nope. Maybe”, “I’m not lost”, “In a minute”, “Can’t it wait till halftime?”, “Wanna do it?”  “Your problem is…”, “You’re too sensitive”, and “What were you thinking!”. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 10:55 pm and is filed under Book Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.