Customer Reviews

The Man of the House

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I enjoyed reading this; it's funny and, as many will notice, a very accurate view of disfunctional families. If you consider yourself an underachiever (or if your parents consider you one), you'll both squirm and forgive yourself

Set in and around Cambridge, Boston, Clyde the narrator tells how he tries to come to terms with his problems: his difficult, critical and supposedly ailing father, his lover Gordon who left him for another man, and his unambitious job to mention a few. Intricately involved in his story are his mildly successful writer friend Louise, and his flat mate the dashingly handsome but annoyingly straight Marcus, both friends from his university days. When Louise appears on the scene she is accompanied by her twelve year old son, Ben, and it seems Marcus is the father. Also present are Clyde's neurotic sister Agnes and her difficult daughter, and the odd-ball occupant of the flat downstairs.
There is no doubt that this is a well written and very funny story, with much of the humour along with the action and tension provided by the presence of Ben and his adopted dog Otis. But it is hard to feel much for the adult characters; they are generally aimless and unwilling to accept the realties of life. All might have been redeemed if something had been achieved by the time we reach the conclusion, but apart from Clyde's belated acceptance of some more obvious facts, very little is achieved. Ultimately the story is negative, and at the end I felt very let down.

I was a bookseller for 15 years and have been a fan of his writing since his first book. We have a term in bookselling, called "handselling a book", which basically means you put a book in a customer's hand and insist that they buy it. That was never hard to do with Stephen McCauley's books. I look forward to more from this talented, funny and sensitve writer.

I think S. McCauley does something in this novel that I have not seen in other contemporary novels recently: he writes in a unique style that makes the reader laugh while at the same time touching the heartstrings. Normally, this is not so unusual but his style is different. In MAN OF THE HOUSE he's both arch and simple. The scene in the restaurant where the two friends meet and try to discuss their problems while not listening to each other is full of comic details, as is the fantastic scene in the revival movie house where the audience talks through CAROUSEL, comments loudly on the performances and cries at the ending. It's the unexpected but true details that hit me: the audience crying at the ending of CAROUSEL, and the waitress at the empty restaurant pretending to know about Carl the unwitting heartthrob. These scenes, combined with the family dilemmas which result in the permanently lost dog, are totally involving

Stephen McCauley has put together a book full of dysfunctional people, yet it is not really the oddity but something that all of us see at one time or other. I don't think there is a family, regardless of background or status, that does not have family members that can't be compared to some of the characters in his book, or at the very least know someone with similar characteristics. It was an entertaining book, describing the lives and traits of several people and how they interact during the course of several months and yet at the end there is no end to the story except for maybe an awakening to the main character's perceptions of himself and his friends. We have the main character, who is gay, who is living with a straight man, who has been going to school forever and has been in and out of many love affairs with women, a woman friend who has returned with her son who is 12 years old (whose father is the straight man), his father who has treated him with disdain for years, a sister with problems and her daughter who is sassy and rebellious, and a dog who has been mistreated previously (and has emotional problems) and since his friends can't keep them at the place they rented, he now has custody and a downstairs neighbor who has gone through a seperation and is emotionally scarred. These all make for an entertaining story.

I check the Stephen McCauley page frequently in hopes that I'll find a new book. I think he is a master of this kind of book, the modern novel of manners. I can imagine Jane Austen being very amused. I've read all of his books more than once, but they don't get tired. I sincerely hope that whatever is in the way of his writing is exorcised. I am sure that many others also miss his voice.

I have to agree w/ one of the other reviewers: I read THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION just prior to the movie's release & enjoyed it immensely. Therefore I was really eager to dive into THE MAN OF THE HOUSE, and although I enjoyed the book - I enjoy McCauley's dry sense of humor - I found the ending to be quite disappointing. To be honest, I don't like happy endings either; I mean let's face it, life is not always a fairy tale. I hate it when authors feel the need to wrap ev'rything up in the end; package it all nicely w/ a beautiful red bow. BUT I was hoping that the main character, Clyde would find his voice before the end of the book. Speak up! Shout! Scream! Anything. He's incredibly passive-aggressive & although I can sort of relate (I used to be like that when I was considerably younger!), I find it difficult to accept that he doesn't ultimately BLOW UP, especially w/ a father like that! And the scene between Clyde & his ex-, Gordon... I desperately wanted Clyde to do something, to say something, to stand up for himself. Although I did enjoy the book (for its humor & style), I would not recommend anyone to read it. It is not a gratifying read; it does not leave you w/ any sense of hope for these characters in the end & for hours afterwards you'll be racking your brain trying to figure out the meaning & symbolism behind Otis...? Btw, if anyone can explain it to me I would really appreciate it ;)

An incredibly insightful and devoted writer, Stephen McCauley does it again with The Man of the House. A must for any man whose had it tough with his father, or for any person who feels they are the only sane member of the human race (and then doubts it!). McCauley plants unforgettable characters in our hearts. Utterly ridiculous and poignantly true.. a chance to laugh at life's injustices. Tickles the nose like a cheap champagne and leaves you dying for more.

Reading The Man of the House is like having a fabulously juicy gossip about family and friends. McCauley is absolutely spot on with his depiction of the young-at-heart, aging around the middle generation. I feel like I know he's everyone writing about, and his deft descriptiveness pulls you right into their world of minor mishaps and überangst. The author clearly loves his characters, and while he doesn't hesitate to take aim at their foibles, he writes about them with a tender humor. Along with a few shivers of anxiety, I laughed out loud while reading the book. It's a treasure for anyone who's ever wondered whether Mr./Ms. Right really exists, why God created families, or indeed, at what age you finally have to become a grown-up. Highly recommended.

The author definitely has a way with an occasional insightful comment or witty line. But the greater bulk of the novel is about a group of VERY neurotic people -- mostly adults -- who meander through their lives waiting for something to happen. Jane Austen had the writerly sense to introduce at least one character to "stir things up" in her plots, but here we have a main character who is as stuck in a morass as much as all of the other characters. The writer ties things up at the end but honestly as a reader I felt like I was reading a book written by a very depressed writer, who wrote this book in order to think about his own neurosis. Too much like being forced to watch some stranger's therapy sessions.