The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen

This book purports to reveal how the mind of the average American male works. With that mission, the unnamed narrator is a twenty-something male who works an unimportant job, caring only about physical satisfaction from his girlfriends and other girls, playing video games, and hanging with friends. He does not care about a career, avoids commitment in his relationships, and candidly expresses whatever he thinks about anything and anyone, which is often crude and debasing. Basically, he is driven by his primal and selfish urges, the sort of male that men aren't supposed to be.

It is hard to figure this book. The narrator's honest, brutal, and unrepressed sexual feelings and actions incessantly barrage you, filling every chapter and every molecule of this narrator. It gets trite quickly, yet remains funny and appealing too. I found myself relating to the narrator's thoughts and reminiscing about similar experiences. I laughed aloud. But there is also so much of this stuff that the narrator appears cartoonish. Is this what the average American male really is like? Or is there something more important going on?

I did some reading about the book, and this is the debate. It could be argued it's the kind of story with the kind of guy for keg-chugging, dim-witted, prankish college guys. It would thus have little literary value. Indeed, CNBC reported that print publications would not review the book because of its raunchiness. Harper Perennial then launched a marketing campaign by showing short videos on YouTube, a site that appeals to young people like college students, which drastically increased sells and led to multiple new printings. Hmmm... using the Internet to promote a book and more people end up reading - I wonder what Andrew Keen would say?

As much of a pig slop as the book can seem, it also could be a response to the male mold that culture has fashioned for guys, a male who should be sensitive, a good listener, and thinking about the relationship's future (or just thinking), someone who does chores and errands and stands in line while she buys her nineteenth pair of shoes, all so he can watch a few hours of football. This is the type of male Dr. Phil and Oprah would approve: he exists to obey and make his woman happy. As such, I don't know what kind of message Kultgen has. I think there is a lot of truth to the notion that this is what men are really like, and it is tempting to say this male is endearing and many would want to unhinge this beast inside and be this male. But there may not be a place in our culture for this male. Can such a guy really exist and still get married and not change? Or, should he exist and is culture right about how guys should act and think? I think the novel's ending has an answer that gives it its power, perhaps a resounding, but reluctant and regrettful, goodbye to primal malehood.