When this novel came out back in 2007 it caused a huge controversy. Granted, the narrator is a lewd, crude, sexually depraved male chauvinist pig who does nothing but objectify and lust after woman. But he is so over the top in his actions, that he obviously does not represent the average American male. C'mon, the main character is nothing but a satirical farce. Read in this light, the book can't be anything but an amusing read. No need to take it seriously, just sit back enjoy the humor of it all. ( )

Voice is not the same as character. While there were occasional moments of insight, the voice was too cartoonish (and the constant sex scenes too porny) to for the indictments to ring true.

That, and there's an overall sloppiness to the book that undercuts the whole. If you're going to include gamer and Internet culture, you need to get it right. Published in 2007, the book has protagonist who engages in Internet behaviors from the early 2000s at the latest, and he plays Halo 2 on his XBOX 360. The average American male knows better. ( )

I read this once in my early twenties and decided to do a reread to see if I still liked it. I actually loved it. There's definitely a nostalgia factor to this. Our protagonist, the Average American Male (AAM), is constantly spending time in shopping centers, shopping in and eating at places that barely exist anymore. And he also talks in a way that you don't often hear anymore since the proliferation of social media has made people more PC and self aware. But it's also just a funny, sort of nihilist book that says a lot in a very quick and minimalist writing style.

Part of the fun of this book is deciding for yourself if Kultgen's version of The Average American Male is accurate. His AAM is a misogynist. He is a little bit racist, homophobic, and ableist. And given how our recent elections have gone, I'd argue that Kultgen is pretty spot on. There is a sort of oversimplification and exaggeration to it that keeps the book entertaining, but there is truth in his depiction. And Kultgen isn't just piling on and shitting on the AAM. The misogynist falls in love with women. The homophobe has a gay friend. The racist is attracted to Asian women. And the ableist finds joy in people with disabilities. It's totally fucked up in a lot of cases, but he's mostly harmless in his daily interactions and he does have true, genuine feelings for people. He is not a sociopath, he is an AAM. Also, it's definitely debatable, but I think Kultgen's actual portrayal of women, gay men, Asian women, and people with Down Syndrome ran contrary to stereotypes several times in this book. While we only see these people through AAM's very shallow eyes, it was easy to imagine them as unique individuals.

I've definitely met AAMs before, but I was also super interested in the women in this story and the book's general commentary on marriage. Average is also a synonym for "mediocre." And a big theme in this book is about settling. There are definitely women who care more about getting married than who they're actually getting married to. I've met women who have set deadlines for marriage and met them! The women AAM dated were sort of aimless in their careers, raised by parents who were pressuring them to marry, and clearly settling for an AAM who was giving them almost nothing in terms true love and devotion. Society had set them up to desire marriage above all else and they scheme to get it, to comedic outcomes. In a sort of nihilist fashion, AAM declares that every woman he dates will be the same so he should give up on shopping for an ideal partner. Of course, he never looks inward. He never asks himself why he only seems to be attracted to younger women without real careers or how his constant lying and inattention leave him not understanding the changing desires of his partners. The AAM is just so average, so basic, so mediocre...I love it. ( )

The book starts off with a funny line.

Then it descends into a parade of dick and fart jokes, more dick than fart - jokes geared towards sixteen year olds who are looking for something to shock their parents with because Kevin Smith just doesn't do it anymore. ( )

Found this used book and decided to give it try. Bad decision. It felt like an extremely poor imitation of Irvine Welsh. Waste of time. ( )