Married Men [Paperback]

Carl Weber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

From Publishers Weekly Like Weber's pulpy debut novel Lookin' for Luv, this crudely written romance seems condemned to advertise its author's limitations, offering virtually no meaningful insight into the serious problems his cardboard cutout characters face. "Black people are treated differently than white people," one of them opines, and that's about as shrewd as it gets. Successful businessman Kyle was the first of a group of four New York City bachelors to wed, and he took a white wife. Now in their mid-30s, Kyle's buddies Jay, Wil and Allen rush to his side as he is falsely jailed by racist cops for the attempted murder of an elderly woman. Mama's boy Allen is caught between his shady, mercenary girlfriend, Rose, and his demanding mother. A compulsive womanizer, egocentric Jay flaunts his disrespect by neglecting his wife, Kenya, and their baby daughter. Wil reluctantly covers for him, but his wife, Diane, is a snoop who is constantly stirring up trouble. Kyle suffers from impotence and his shrink says the trauma of his arrest triggered a subconscious fear of being married to a white woman. Even Viagra doesn't help, so Kyle goes off to Africa to find himself. Meanwhile, opportunist Rose bullies Allen into marriage and manipulates both him and his mother into taking out insurance policies with her as beneficiary. Predictably, Ma is murdered during a holdup. Weber fails to evoke any sympathy at all for his cast of stereotypical, shallow characters as they blunder through this soap opera. "I played dumb," one character says, unwittingly speaking for all concerned. They're not playing. Agent, Marie Brown. 10-city author tour. (Sept. 4)Forecast: Despite its lowest-common-denominator approach, the book may appeal to those who sent Lookin' for Luv into a fourth printing. Weber, recently named African-American Bookseller of the Year, will be a force in driving sales.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like Weber's pulpy debut novel Lookin' for Luv, this crudely written romance seems condemned to advertise its author's limitations, offering virtually no meaningful insight into the serious problems his cardboard cutout characters face. "Black people are treated differently than white people," one of them opines, and that's about as shrewd as it gets. Successful businessman Kyle was the first of a group of four New York City bachelors to wed, and he took a white wife. Now in their mid-30s, Kyle's buddies Jay, Wil and Allen rush to his side as he is falsely jailed by racist cops for the attempted murder of an elderly woman. Mama's boy Allen is caught between his shady, mercenary girlfriend, Rose, and his demanding mother. A compulsive womanizer, egocentric Jay flaunts his disrespect by neglecting his wife, Kenya, and their baby daughter. Wil reluctantly covers for him, but his wife, Diane, is a snoop who is constantly stirring up trouble. Kyle suffers from impotence and his shrink says the trauma of his arrest triggered a subconscious fear of being married to a white woman. Even Viagra doesn't help, so Kyle goes off to Africa to find himself. Meanwhile, opportunist Rose bullies Allen into marriage and manipulates both him and his mother into taking out insurance policies with her as beneficiary. Predictably, Ma is murdered during a holdup. Weber fails to evoke any sympathy at all for his cast of stereotypical, shallow characters as they blunder through this soap opera. "I played dumb," one character says, unwittingly speaking for all concerned. They're not playing. Agent, Marie Brown. 10-city author tour. (Sept. 4)Forecast: Despite its lowest-common-denominator approach, the book may appeal to those who sent Lookin' for Luv into a fourth printing. Weber, recently named African-American Bookseller of the Year, will be a force in driving sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Kyle Richmond is the successful owner of an African American beauty supply business. Yet he spends a great deal of energy hiding his wife, Lisa, from his customers. Jay Crawford is the handsome, well-dressed man who got married to his wife, Kenya, out of obligation and not love. After two years, he has yet to settle into a monogamous marriage. Allen Jackson is a mama's boy who allowed his true love to get away. Now that he has a college degree and a good job, he is ready to settle down with Rose. Her controlling and manipulative behavior, however, causes him to have conflicts with his mother but also with himself. Wil Duncan is the most compassionate of the four. Innocently, he can't keep a secret from his wife, Diane, who tells everything she knows. As the victim of a cruel joke, he finds himself struggling to maintain a civil relationship with his wife. The four men learn that no matter how unstable their family lives become they can always count on one another. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: Dafina (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575666960
• ISBN-13: 978-1575666969
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Carl Weber is a New York Times and #1 Essence® bestselling novelist.

In addition to his writing, Weber is the founder and publisher of Urban Books and in 2005, he was named Blackboard's Publisher of the Year. He is the owner of the Urban Knowledge chain of book stores and a past recipient of Blackboard's Bookseller of the Year award.

Weber graduated from Virginia State University and holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Married Men - Single Theory, August 17, 2001

By 

Nancy Flowers Wilson (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married Men (Paperback)

Married Men is one of the funniest, most interesting and captivating novels that I've read in a long time. While it dealt with serious issues that evolve over time in relationships, Carl Weber managed to wield his pen like a professional swordsmen and stab humor throughout.

Just when you think the unexpected won't happen it does. The main character Kyle is a smart, savvy, but typical looking brother. He has a wonderful family or so it appears until dormant feelings begin to emerge causing him to take a second look at his wife in a way that he never thought possible for him. Allen Jackson, the Momma's boy is hooked up with a trifling trick of a woman named Rose. She manages to turn Allen's life upside down with her bag of tricks including using a pregnancy to ensure permanent residence as his lifelong partner. However, things don't always turn out the way we script them. Wil Duncan is married to mouth-almighty, tongue ever-lasting, Diane. Diane is like a tornado spinning out of control causing turbulence between Wil and his boys. At one point they pull the cruelest trick on him to teach him a lesson, but how far is too far when it comes to a practical joke? Last we have Jay, the playa, playa and pretty boy of the group. In the beginning it's hard to tell that Jay is even involved in a relationship, much less married the way he manages to stumble from one woman to the next as if in a drunken stupor. But we often reap what we sow, and Jay is no exception to the rule!

This quartet is tighter than tight and have a history together that is almost infallible. Then again, all relationships have their breaking points. It's interesting to see how this story wraps up and it's definitely not your typical ending.

The drama and theatrics of this group will keep you up in to the wee hours of the morning. This is admittedly the first time that I was unable to put a novel down. This book is a page turner from the beginning to the very end.

Carl, hats off to you on a superb novel!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars carl, you're two for two, October 26, 2001

By 

Erren Geraud Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married Men (Paperback)

of course, i read lookin for love for luv before this, so i had a pretty good idea about his writing. carl can create good characters and can write dialogue that will have you laughing out loud. however alot of this book was predictable; it's not a deep book, i could see the plot twists from a mile away, and yet i continued to read because the book was fun. i've read the same kind of story dozens of times before, and yet, carl made it fun. allen was the weakest character in the book; he had no backbone, he was a mama's boy, plus, he was -----whipped. i wanted to grab this man and tell him to get his head out of his duffel bag. you're gonna see a man eating your food, groping your woman, and then believe her when she tells you that's her cousin ? no one can be that clueless ! i had a problem with kyle having issues with with his marriage just because lisa was white. he didn't have it in the beginning, so why would've it have bothered him now ? i wouldn't even bother dating outside my race if i wasn't man enough to deal with the problems that come with it...i was very suprised after all that, that lisa and kyle got back together. i did like the fact that carl made one of his principal characters a bbw; he made diane beautiful and desirable; he also gave her enough attitude , that when upset would have made (person) scared . rose is foul with a capital " F." totally despicable; and deals more dirt than a gardener. it's not as a great book, but there was more that i liked than hated about it....

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A DRAMA-filled Masterpiece............!!!!, December 27, 2001

By 

"divalicious" (ATL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married Men (Paperback)

This was my first time reading something from this author and I must say I was very impressed! This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I caught myself laughing out loud, crying and talking to the characters. I felt like I was a fly on the wall as Carl Weber took me into the lives of four best friends. Kyle was the peacemaker of the four. He was married to a white woman, but at times he felt embarrassed being with her. Wil was married to a woman who couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Wil's friends confided in him with their deepest secrets and thoughts. He confided in his wife Diane and she made her business to tell everyone which caused more drama than a little! Allen(momma's boy) was the weaker of the bunch he let his money-hungry girlfriend take advantage of him time after time. I found myself screaming at him more than any of the characters to stop being a fool! His girlfriend Rose was nothing more than a SCANDALOUS and triflin golddigger who did whatever it took to keep her pockets fat. Last you have Jay who was my favorite character because his life was like an episode of the Real World mixed with a little Ricki Lake and topped with sprinkles of the Jerry Springer show! Jay was married, but by all the ladies he had in and out of his life one couldn't tell. Lying was natural to Jay and he seem to like living his life on the edge. These four guys really had a strong bond between them because no matter what happen they ALWAYS was there for each other! Married Men was a PAGE TURNER and I highly recommend all book lovers read it!

Carl Weber is now my favorite male author! Once you expereincce Carl Weber you too will agree that he is best male author out today! He has literary magic that flows smoothly and keeps you wanting more! I can hardly wait for his next novel Baby Mama Drama, I read a sample chapter of it at the end of Married Men and I can tell already it is going to be OFF THE CHAIN! Carl Weber, you have a new fan and I am on my way to pick up your first novel Lookin For Luv. Married Men easily gets five stars and deserves more!!!! This one is MUST READ especially for women who want a peek inside what goes on in a man's mind!