Customer Reviews

Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid: The Simple Truth to a Complicated Relationship

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're looking for deep, psychological advice for relationships, you won't find it in this book.

If you're looking to laugh, well... maybe a little.

The authors are sitcom writers who are actually a couple in real life, so there is some humor in this book. The problem is they wrote for such "hilarious" shows like According to Jim and My Wife And Kids, so the humor tends to be as general-purpose and cliche as those (imho, terrible) sitcoms usually are.

What I did enjoy about this book is how it gives couples some straight forward reminders of stuff that they should honestly know already. It seemed like most of the actual advice was geared towards men, but that perception may just be due to the fact that I'm a guy, so I'm gonna pick up on the stuff directly addressed to me.

Anyway, a sample of some of this books straight forward reminders include...

For men:
-If a women you like constantly tells you she doesn't want a relationship, accept that and move on.
-If your woman likes something that you think is terrible, don't bash what she likes.
-Romance needs to seem spontaneous and that usually takes a lot of effort to make your attempts at romance have that effect.

For women:
-When your guy trys to do something nice for you but really screws it up, chances are he was doing the best he could with what he had at the time, so try to give him a break.



If these pointers seem useful, but you'd prefer them delivered to you wrapped around okay jokes from substandard sitcoms, you'd probably really like this book. I don't want to sound harsh by saying that, but thats basically what this book is, stuff people should already know (but often don't think about) delivered to you with a lowest common denominator sense of humor.

The first thing that I noticed about Women are Crazy, Men Are Stupid: The Simple Truth to a Complicated Relationship by Howard J. Mooris and Jenny Lee is the catchy title. Then, I see the cute cartoon cover. I am not the type that is typically into books that are about relationships. However, something about this book seemed different. My instincts were right. Not only is this book very different, but it is insightful and hilarious!

The authors Morris and Lee are two comedian writers that fell in love. They not only give insight into their relationship, but a lot of the things they talk about relate to most relationships. I often find myself acting crazy for no reason. I have told my husband multiple times in the past "I'm Sorry! I wasn't crazy like this until I started dating you." It is true that love seems to make women crazy. As a woman it is very encouraging to know that their are other crazy women out there. Jenny definitely lays her crazy on the table for all to see and Howard demonstrates his stupid.

This book is mostly written in the format of he writes and she responds. This format seemed to work out well for the book and for their relationship as well. It's always best to let the woman have the last say, especially when it comes to talking about us being crazy. It was nice to be able to hear the argument from both sides and understand what causes some of the crazy and the stupid. Howard and Jenny address everything from past relationships to shopping to expectations. After reading this book, I feel proud of how Howard has learned from some of his mistakes and it gives women hope that their men will see the light. One thing is clear: women are crazy & men are stupid! Ladies, this book is a must read not only for you, but for the men in your life.

Men and women have different ideas about how to express their love. When you're a little girl, your parents tell you that when a boy hits you or pulls your hair, it's because they like you. That should have been my first clue that maybe they had a different interpretation of how to show they care. I've always found the human mind fascinating and so I had to read this book. Once you realize that the people in your life have a different perspective, it's a lot easier to accept them for who they are.

It was so funny, I literally spit my drink all over the living room. I was cracking up so loud that my Aunt in California heard me (I live in Kentucky). That's a bit of an exaggeration but I think it helps get the point across that this book was hilarious!

The problem with most books diagnosing relationships is that they are cynical and encourage game playing. Women are Crazy, Men Are Stupid (WACMAS) replaces the clinical and calculating with a warm and bemused take on the idiosyncrasies of the opposite sex. It is clear that the authors do think of their partner that they are stupid and crazy respectively--but they are absolutely besotted with their stupid/crazy mate, and can't wait to see what new stupid/crazy thing they will do.

Beyond the warm fuzzies, WACMAS does provide interesting insights into the way in which the opposite sex analyzes and breaks down situations. The authors show how two decent, well-intentioned people can still drive each other crazy with their different approaches to situations. One thinks: how can he be so insensitive?! while the other is busy thinking how can she be so ridiculous!?

Having this book to hand might fend off a fight borne of frustration. It might help to soothe an upset as well.

Recommended.

This clever laugh-out-loud book, had me devouring the pages as I felt immense relief that other couples had such similar relationship experiences! Turns out I'm not alone in my "crazy" over-analysis of my boyfriend's every statement or action and so relieved that I wasn't the only girl out there falling for "stupid" men who seem to mean so well... we can understand each other if we take a second to look at situations from the other's point of view. You will find yourself constantly laughing at the relatable and often ridiculous relationship situations. Jenny and Howard have truly written a fun and knowledgeable book here and I've recommended it to all my friends!!

The authors, Howard J. Morris and Jenny Lee, are writers for comedic TV series and books. They are also in a "complicated relationship". The readers are treated to eleven funny chapters dealing with women crazy/men stupid behaviors. Morris craftily recounts actual incidents (going out, gifts, sports, movies, etc.) where aforementioned behaviors occurred and we are also treated to hilarious "Jenny's Response"/rebuttal segments in each chapter for the female perspective. All this interjected with real, crazy/stupid dialogue between Morris and Lee. There's a lot of random drivel but these two writers obviously see what's funny in relationships and provides humorous instances that most women and men can relate to.

I really enjoy fun, humorous relationship books. I was hoping this would be something like "He's Just Not That Into You" or even "Couplehood," both of which I thought were fun with those little bits of bumper sticker wisdom kind of snuck in the midst of those funny relationship or couple stories that we all have. With this book, I was hoping for much of the same sort of thing. Cute couple shares stories about love gone awry temporarily by human failings, laughs about it, and gains something from it, moves on. Ideally, something more representative of the modern 20 or young 30-something relationship, something witty and fun. Unfortunately, this book really had no practical relationship advice, nor was it especially funny.

The introduction starts off with the story of how the idea for the book came to be, which apparently led to a big fight between the two authors. But it wasn't one of those little bickering arguments that couples have that you laugh at when you think about it later... This was one of those awkward fights. Like a fight you see a couple have at a party where you wish you could carefully and quietly sneak out the door undetected before they break out the knives. And that set the tone for the whole book... Awkward moments and bickering between the authors and/or their former flames from elementary school on, punctuated by typical gender-based stereotypes which are so abused and over-used that they don't make you laugh, just shake your head and sigh.

The mission of the whole book can be summed up by the question asked at the start, which the male author promises to answer once and for all: "Are women crazy because men are stupid? Or are men stupid because women are crazy?" His theory? Men are rendered stupid by boobs, and the sight of boobs cause them to behave like stupid jerks starting from a young age, which conditions women to universally disrespectful treatment from men and slowly drives them insane. The female author's theory is that the reason men are stupid is because they don't get "it," and women are misunderstood and interpreted as crazy because they are so frustrated by men's complete inability to get "it." What makes this a book revealing the "simple truth to a complicated relationship" I have no idea. Their relationship isn't really that complicated. It's a guy who thinks his girlfriend is insane and a woman who wonders how her boyfriend could be so dumb. The answer to both questions is an obvious communication issue they have both seem to have but never truly address and they both seem to blame a lot of their current dynamic, functional and dysfunctional, on past relationships. They blame their stupidity and insanity on each other, people they used to date, people they wanted to date, people who wouldn't date them, so on and so on.

The book just gets progressively worse as it goes on. Everything from men are mean to women they like which has its origins in school yard gender relations, to the belief that if men were more like women (or vice versa) the world would be a better place, to men don't listen to women because they often don't say things that are important and that's just how it is (as observed by the male author), to a promise made by a man or an effort at being sweet and kind that doesn't come off as planned is a promise broken and therefore a huge disaster (as observed by the female author). Every gender-based stereotype and joke that you can think of is made and explored as some sort of new and profound relationship truth. The laughs are few and far between and I found both of the authors to be really annoying. The male author seemed almost proud of his confessed inability to relate to women, chalking it up as a fact of being male, and at times he even seemed like he enjoyed going out of his way to be difficult and dense to provoke a "crazy" reaction just to prove that all women are varying degrees of irrational waiting to explode. The female author comes off often times as snotty and self-centered and also equally resigned to the fact that men will never live up to her expectations.

This book shares nothing new about relationships, or about men or women, which makes it useless as any sort of book on relationship advice, and it's not particularly funny, which makes it useless as any sort of amusing, functionally dysfunctional relationship humor book. For my money there are better, funnier, and certainly more constructive relationship books out there. Much of this felt empty, forced, and awkward. Too much relying on stereotypes which are more destructive than helpful and far too many stories that I guess were supposed to be an example of cute, witty banter but instead were awkward to read.... The kind where, like I said before, if you were at a party and you witnessed it, you'd quietly find a way to be anywhere but there.

Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid is not a ground breaking book; and, I didn't learn anything specific new about relationships from this book. But, this book, written by a real life couple, is a very humorous and insightful look at this wacky thing we call love and relationships.

What this book did do for me is put everything I experienced in and learned from relationships into perspective - especially everything that has passed over the last year or so in my own life, as well as some of the things that some friends have been going through around me.

The bottom line is exactly as the title says (and, as the scenario the authors shared that led to the book aptly pointed out): WOMEN ARE CRAZY and MEN ARE STUPID! Buy this book and inject some perspective into your love life...

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

It has been a while since my college days and my brief interest in trying to understand what the whole deal is with women. I read a few books by John Gray ("Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" etc.). They provided some insights that saved me a little grief, but also led me to over-generalize and over-estimate my understanding of the better half of humanity. If anything, "Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid" comes off immediately as a huge over-generalization of both genders. Saying there is a simple truth to the obviously complicated relationship...that just sounds like some marketing hooey to move product.

Despite my initial skepticism, I quickly raced through this page-turner almost constantly nodding my head in agreement. And while it turned out to be a quick-read, it still has me thinking and thinking, which my wife assures is a good thing. While it lacks the clinical research, professional knowledge and experience of Gray's work, the two authors (Morris and Lee) share one very important credential: they're both comedy writers. So you can expect some humorous anecdotes and general sprinklings of wit.

Most significantly, admist all the head-nodding and if-only-i-didn't-have-to-find-this-out-the-hard-way-wishing, I came upon the occasional epiphany. Now, I'm guessing most women will probably just read the title and get it. However, for a stupid man like myself, I only thought I understood the premise of the book at first. It actually took me about half the book to really get it. That's when I understood how much room I had to improve in my own relationship and all the things that I had done that had been rubbing my wife the wrong way without me even noticing. For a long time only I thought my wife was crazy and only she thought I was stupid. Well, now we know the liberating truth.

Women need to know they are important, that they are special. Women look for signs of this all the time. When the signs tell them something they don't like, they get worried (aka crazy). Now, this seems silly to men, who basically believe that if they do what their spouse asks of them, occasionally going out of their way to do so, then it means they are the perfect husband and deserve only praise and affection. So inevitably fights break out when a man feels criticized unjustly or a woman feels ignored...and they become huge fights because neither side understands the other.

If you're still not sure about the premise, how familiar does this sound?
Guy: Hey honey, what do you want to do tonight?
Girl: Oh, I don't know (translation - I have several ideas that I'd really enjoy and I think you would too, but I wouldn't enjoy them as much if I told you what they were. Maybe you'll read my mind with your (nonexistant) empathetic skills and everything will work out perfectly. That would be so romantic!)

or this?
Girl: What are you thinking about?
Guy: Uh, nothing. (translation - why would I be thinking about stuff when I'm obviously just sitting here doing nothing)

Women expect men to read their minds. If they could just tell men what they want, they'd get what they want instead of just getting upset. Crazy, huh? Men don't have much going on up there and if asked about it they might think it's odd, but they won't think, hey maybe she's asking because SHE usually has stuff on her mind and I NEVER ask her about it or maybe she's asks me all the time because she's hoping that once in a while I actually think about her. What a moron.

How many fights could be avoided if everyone just took a few hours to read this boook? How many relationships could be saved? Okay, I'm not saying this book is going to work any miracles, but it does get you thinking along the right track...and it's an entertaining read.

am endlessly fascinated by relationships, mainly love relationships. I actually had a boyfriend who felt he could not go on with the relationship because "I exhausted him" with all my analyzing and trying to understand where he was coming from and how we could meet in the middle. This was my first clue that men and women are absolutely wired differently. Come to think of it, a few guys in my life have said that to me - that they are exhausted after a "discussion" with me - hum!!!

Of course, this makes me THE perfect audience for this type of book and as soon as I saw the title, I immediately thought "I would rather be stupid than crazy" because you can fix stupid. I know, that is a weird thought! but hey! I can exhaust even myself at times :)

This book is actually quite true (in my opinion) and I found myself nodding at many of the comments. This is kind of a she said/he said type of book and I am constantly amazed at how differently the two sexes think. Sometimes, when I read this type of book I think I need to stop doing that because I feel more depressed afterwards - how on earth can we ever find a middle? If you can get pass this feeling, then you will enjoy this entertaining, funny and sometimes actually poignant look at relationships from the point of view of both sexes - and never the twine shall meet!

Of course, being the female, I was ALWAYS in agreement with the female point of view - the explanations were totally understandable - nough said.....

If you want to read something entertaining then pick this one up.