Customer Reviews

What a Difference a Year Makes: How Life's Unexpected Setbacks Can Lead to Unexpected Joy

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This book was a joke. Bob is a joke. Why this guy deserves a book deal is beyond me. He doesn't have anything new to say than any other person would who went through the same situation. So his ex-wife grew a brain and dumped this self-centered loser. The guy never should've been on the Bachelor either. He is light years from ever committing to a woman. He knew that and still went on the show. Now nobody respects him after what he did to Estella and the viewers. The guy needs to grow up. Plus, this guy's 15 minutes have been up a long time ago. Somebody should let him know and spare us from seeing his mug and ego anymore. Go back to Michigan and stay there, Bob. You ain't a star. Ain't gonna be one. Don't waste your money or time on this book.

He has no right to be famous and write a book. He was nice guy who turned out to be such a fraud and womanizer. What a disgrace and waste of air time on ABC The Bacherlor!

Waste of time. A friend had this book and I picked it up and glanced through the book. It was a quick read that had nothing new or intelligent to say. I saw the Bachelor. Bob had nothing to offer a good woman then and has nothing to offer a reader now.

I laugh at the 5 star ratings from Michigan. Obviously friends of his. Misleading. This book sucks. It is all about his relationship with his ex-wife. (If I were HER, I'd be pissed about all the information freely given out.) OBVIOUSLY, this book shows that he is NOT over her. Who cares. I was looking for something inspirational. NOT. Hey, Bob- go have another vodka drink. Is that all you and your family and friends do?? You are not a teenager anymore... you and your sister and friends should stop acting like them.

By the way... note to Bob... your Grandmother must have had an ANGIOGRAM, not ANGIOPLASTY. Check out the difference. The fact that THAT was wrong, itself, besides, what seems to me, a lack in the grammar-checking department for commas, really bugged me.

CRUMMY BOOK!! I was pro-Bob when he was on the Bachelorette, but that's about it. He was the underdog, and I felt that I should just be pulling for him. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS BOOK.

Ugh, what a waste.

The guy has absolutely NOTHING original or new to say....about ANYTHING. Perhaps this was a journal Bob could have given to his therapist to show his "progress." Because who else cares about any of this besides BOB? The problem is that BOB has become arrogant enough to think that other people really do. 15 Minutes of Fame went to this guy's head....for someone who claims to be "self-deprecating," this book was all about Bob's attempt to inflate his own ego. (With the premise of trying to "inspire" his readers.) He's clearly NOT over his ex-wife, he claims he was so helpful in rushing to protect her privacy, and then goes on to write a book where she is one of the main features.

He uses so many cliches, tries waaaay to hard to boost his own ego (Really, I was only fat for a few months...REALLY. I used to be a star athlete. I used to be hot. Girls all dig me. I'm successful." Which is all fine, except I don't think BOB really believes it. He comes across as insecure, with plenty of hang ups, trying to convince the reader he's "over it." Sounds more like BOB has written this in a LAME attempt to convince himself.

Oh and Bob....if you are still scanning the Internet looking for what people are saying about you, here's a piece of advice....Get Over Yourself.

What a waste. I doubt I could even sell it for .99 at the used book place.

It turns out the book starts at the time The Bachelor premiered on television and ends before he is about to tape the next season of The Bachelor. There are thirteen chapters, covering February through February with the chapters actually covering a specific month.

The acknowledgments went on for three pages, thanking everyone he could possibly think of! The introduction gives a recap on his "pseudo celebrity", appearing on the Oprah show and the chance meeting on an airplane that led to the writing of the book. The afterword covers the period from The Bachelorette to The Bachelor and explains the airplane meeting.

In the middle is a nine page black and white spread showcasing baby photos through college football days. I would have rather had photos from the television series, like behind the scenes. If your intent on reading this self indulging book is to learn tidbits from either show you will be sorely disappointed. The only insight I learned is that there were seventy pages of questions to answer for the television show. Not one example was shared for the reading audience. He had literally only three weeks from the time he learned he was chosen as a Bachelor to appear on The Bachelorette for taping. As a viewer of the show I would have preferred learning more about how he prepared and what he was allowed to pack for the trip.

The marriage did not last three years, yet Bob was devastated at the breakup. Jennifer left him in a bizarre way, leaving a post it note behind with her intentions on ending the marriage. Bob was a partner in a mortgage business, which he did not discuss while on The Bachelorette. He writes that he is just the average guy next door that will mow your lawn. It came as a surprise to the other men on the show that Bob was in a band and had played college football.

He only briefly mentioned The Oprah Show. I feel that show is what made him more popular and she was the one he had consulted before agreeing to be The Bachelor. It was evident when reading that Bob was not really interested in starting a relationship with Trista while he was on The Bachelorette since he was still mending his broken heart.

The best part of reading through this book was getting to the end.

While this book is a good enough, light read, it would NEVER have been made/released if it weren't for the Bachelor. If you are a fan of Guiney's you will like it; other than that, it's another story that shouldn't really have made it to print. He's not out finding cures for cancer or anything, and he's getting money out of the story of his life. While I like him, I can't honestly recommend this to any serious reader.

How did this book ever get published? It's "Bachelor" Bob Guiney whining about his divorce and complaining about his life that he can't figure out how he screwed up. Hey, buddy, read your own book! After a couple chapters of his constant "I'm a party boy with a great family and I don't know what happened to me," you get really tired that he can't get his life together.

There's nothing appealing about a guy who rehashes his ex-wife leaving him over and over again. It is basically the theme of this book. It's clear to see why after reading his clueless comments about his life. Raised in a large social family where extended family members lived on the same street, he says he's proud that his parents never punished him and that he was able to charm his way through high school and college. What he doesn't see is that he's still stuck in his childhood, which doesn't work when making a marriage commitment to someone from a different background.

The only halfway interesting thing is his discussion about what it's like to be famous--but even that is mostly whining. There is nothing inspirational about this book--since it was written before he started The Bachelor it's hard to figure out why he was even given a contract to write it. (Of course, since then he has been married and divorced again.) Don't be fooled by the subtitle--there's not much "unexpected joy" here but instead a lot of setbacks that he doesn't seem to learn from. Believe the one-star reviews (even the one that says they'd give the book zero stars!). This should have never been published.

It took me less than three hours to read the entire book. Large type, fat pages--I wondered if I had stumbled across a "special" person's book. Sadly there is nothing at all special about this book. "What a Difference..." is set up with chapters labeled for each month of the year (I think so the author wouldn't confuse himself) and contain a brief smattering of a mostly inconsequential event that took place in that time period. Mr. Guiney then tries to wrap each month, I mean chapter, up with a moral, or lesson learned--usually from another family member, demonstrating the same bland stock that he himself personifies. My god, these are mostly insights the average person gains through childhood and adolescence--play nice, share with others, you can't love anyone else until you first love yourself, etc. The story line is weak--it appears as though he was grasping at straws to fill some months, instead of presenting a natural flow of one's life. I bought this book as a lover of the Bachelor/Bachelorette series, hoping to gain more juicy, extra information...a continuation of my "Peeping Tom"-like reality-show entertainment. I was more than disappointed. Not only was the content poor, but the writing was dumbed-down as well. You'd think his "professional" collaborator could have helped with this. My first reaction was "sophomoric", and then I realized that it was far worse than that. If "freshmanic" was a word, I would use it instead. Mr. Guiney's twelve seconds of "chubby kid doing the running man" was far more entertaining than the whole of reading this novel. I generously gave this book two stars, because if you are one of the average looking to homely teenage girls out there who still has a crush on the funny (fat) guy on TV, this book might appeal to you. Anyone hoping to gain any real information on Mr. Guiney, the TV show, or a life changing lesson should forgo it. I hope his future efforts in life are less public, as the differences he experiences in a year don't fill a single week of the average person's life.