The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? [Paperback]

Bill Loucks (Author), J.L. Saloff (Editor), Manjari Graphics (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2007

A humorous novel about a man with a committee of voices to guide him. The Committee is in a constant state of turmoil and continually creates havoc. The members include Ego, Fear, Guilt, Sex, Finance, Relationships, plus a new member who attempts to lead the wayward Committee onto a new life path. The results are life changing, hilarious and resemble "The Secret", if written by Jose Cuervo and Captain Morgan on a Saturday night.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I wish I had this book before I married, both times.

The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? is the key to understanding how men think and why their behavior is so bizarre in the eyes of the average woman. Author Bill Loucks educates while entertaining and may very well be asked to relinquish his "manhood" card because he reveals so many of the secrets his species holds dear.

The book's protagonist is Bob Johnston, a 47-year-old depressed, functioning alcoholic with a failing business and troubled marriage. When his third wife, Nicole, returns to the job market as Bob struggles to maintain a hold of their once thriving enterprise, he settles into a rut of morning to night drinking and self-pity. While Bob realizes the role he has played in the decline of his financial and personal life, he finds it easier to defer blame, decisions, and actions to his internal Committee: Relationships, Finance, Sex, Guilt, Ego, and Fear. These voices, which often hold exhausting fights inside his head, are given accountability for what has happened and will occur in Bob's life. This makes things a lot easier, plus Bob won't lose any points this way. The appearance of a new voice one day after a mildly inebriated Bob hits his head brings this little party of pass-the-buck to a halt, resulting in Bob learning to behave differently in the world.

Robert is Bob's voice of reason. He makes a point of informing Bob that one voice is what most people have to work with, not the schizophrenic collective that he has corralled. Through interviews with each of the main Committee members (there are also subcommittee members like Self-esteem, which makes the idea of this ensemble even scarier) and a search through Bob's archive of life experiences (that takes weeks to complete), Robert introduces techniques to assist Bob in taking responsibility for the Committee and his life. Meanwhile, outside of his head, Bob is faced with finding a job (which he does) and adjusting to his wife's successful venture into real estate (that takes longer, but he gets there). The Committee is often in chaos as the life changes progress. Ego, who is the epitome of the stereotypical cave man, is frequently vocal as is Fear, who manages to agitate all of the Committee members often forcing Bob to ply himself with alcohol to get any sleep at all.

This book should be required reading for all men and a standard bridal shower gift. Loucks illustrates the internal struggles that many men labor with. In addition to popping the hood on the man-machine and providing a slew of crass, male-friendly jokes, Loucks uses tough love to force his main character to look deep inside of the problems he would normally throw into the vault to avoid dealing with them. Bob is challenged repeatedly by Robert and is scared into action: "If you choose to continue down the same path knowing there are other options, you relinquish your right to complain."

The Committee is brilliant, funny, timely, and effective. It is a story that women can benefit from as well as their men.

Now I'll be better prepared when husband number three shows up. -- www.BookReviewers.org December 30,2007.

From the Publisher

Independent Professional Book Reviewer Melissa Levine: Brilliant, Funny, Timely, and Effective! The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? is the key to understanding how men think and why their behavior is so bizarre in the eyes of the average woman. Author Bill Loucks educates while entertaining and may very well be asked to relinquish his "manhood" card because he reveals so many of the secrets his species holds dear. This book should be required reading for all men and a standard bridal shower gift.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Burnboat Publishing LLC; 1st edition (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097997190X
• ISBN-13: 978-0979971907
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,311,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i laughed so hard!!!, November 28, 2007

By 

Julie Welz (Las Vegas, NV.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? (Paperback)

this book is so funny, real, and helpful that i bought 10 of them for gifts i also plan on giving one to my therapist i'm sure she will be happy to promote it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, November 14, 2007

By 

Heather Iannone "Word Junkie" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? (Paperback)

At last, someone who has the courage to admit they have voices in their head too! In reading this book, it was as though I got to go on a guided on tour of the human mind. On the adventure, I got to see that I'm not the only one who hears voices that contradict each other making daily decisions quite difficult.

At times I laughed so hard I should've gotten up to use the bathroom, but didn't because I didn't want to put the book down to do so. Bob, the main character, has so many....shall I say challenges....that if I were in his shoes, I'd be deep into some kind of addiction. Yet somehow he can laugh at himself so I didn't feel so bad when I did too.

Man or woman, your best friend or coworker, that girl you've been wanting to talk too yet you couldn't find a good excuse to, they all deserve to indulge in this hilarious take on life.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up?, November 12, 2007

By 

VivaLasVegasGal (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Committee: Man's Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? (Paperback)

I loved this book. It was funny but also a book can make you take a look inside of yourself. The main character Bob, a loveable loser, is struggling to do the right thing, but like we all can, is searching for the easy way out. The Committee members, Ego, Sex, Fear, Guilt, Finance and Relationships are so typical of men and the way they think.

I found myself cheering for Bob and suffering through his three-steps forward, two-steps backward progression towards his goals of finding a new career and saving his marriage. The interference of the Committee members made the process hilarious and many times I found myself laughing out loud, something I normally don't do when reading.

A great book for entertainment and one I'm putting on my shopping list for friends who continually have "Men" issues (most of my friends!).