The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead [Abridged][Audiobook] (Audio Cassette)

~ (Author, Reader)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Browne's fourth venture into chronicling Southern belles gone bad shows no signs of exhausting the topic; her reservoir of hilarious advice and empowering stories are still fresh and funny. There are five categories of men "you must have in your life—one to talk to, one to dance with, one who can pay for things, one to have great sex with and one who can fix things." Offering tips on where to find eligible men, Browne suggests Home Depot, bookstores (where she met her new husband, The Cutest Boy in the World), post-funeral feeds and "class reunions after number 25 or so are hot beds of, well, hot beds." As for dating older men, Browne coos, "I've long been a proponent of this concept on account of the opportunity it affords us to be young and cute forever." Although the Queens are best known for their all-purpose problem solver of "The Promise" (of oral sex), equally useful is the sage observation that "No compliment is too outrageous for a man to believe." Browne narrates with an assured, relaxed drawl—she writes exactly as she speaks, making her the perfect raconteur. This is the first time Random has not issued Browne's work unabridged. Obviously, they forgot Mae West's adage, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

The Sweet Potato Queens are a group of Southern women of a certain age known for their no-holds-barred approach to life and their no-nonsense brand of advice. Already having tackled love, financial planning, and cooking in previous best-sellers, chief queen Conner Browne returns with this guide to understanding the habits--mating, grooming, and everything in-between--of men. She categorizes the male of the species into eight groups: the Bud Spud, Dud Spud, Crud Spud, Fuddy-Dud Spud, Pud Spud, Blood Spud, Scud Spud, and the ultimate--the Spud Stud. Often it seems like she's re-treading old and tired male stereotypes, but she backs up her generalizations with anecdotal references. These hilarious and often unbelievable real-life snapshots are what separate this book from other male-bashing relationship guides. Perhaps most importantly, Browne reminds women that though good men exist, they're not the key to happiness. At times this field guide reads more like a sales catalog directing readers to the Web site where they can purchase Sweet Potato Queens' merchandise, but that won't deter Browne's legions of devotees. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio Voices; Abridged edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073931503X
• ISBN-13: 978-0739315033
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,190,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking in New England, October 15, 2004

By	Ayla "Ayla" (Providence, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead (Paperback)

I had to leave the South, as Queen Jill and Tammy had already taken all the Cutest Boys...at least in the South! Last night I was asked to leave Amtrak's "Quiet Car" during my commute home, as even my attempts to stifle my laughter were disturbing the other passengers. As an acupuncturist, I must advise Jill that not only does it work for weight loss, but for "facial rejuvenation" as well. Unfortunately for me, treating myself would intrude on my lolling about time.
This is serving not only as a refresher course "Guide to Men," but I am also reading passages to my daughter as it is time for her education! She is speechless...mostly because she can't breathe.
Hilarious!!! All those things we think about men...the things we say to our girlfriends about our bodies and our men...and all the things our mothers told us that ladies don't say out loud!!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift for anyone down in the dumps over a man, November 12, 2004

By	M. Garrison (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead (Paperback)

I love all the Sweet Potato Queens books, and this one is right up there with the very first one -- truly a great, hysterical read, all the way through to the end.

One of the things I like best about all the Sweet Potato Queen books is how much they celebrate women of all ages and shapes. Too much chick lit can sometimes leave a girl wondering if the really fun things in life only happen to thin girls in the city, but that's definitely not the case here.

Not only a fun book to read, but definitely a great gift -- for anyone upset about their man, or for a man who really wants to understand women but just isn't getting it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just didn't have the old magic, November 25, 2005

By	David Michael Cohen (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead (Paperback)

My wife and I have loved the Sweet Potato Queen books from the beginning. Reading them together became something of a ritual for us. This book, however, left us both rather disappointed.

Jill Conner Browne is a very talented writer, no question about that, and her latest book did offer several laugh-out-loud moments. Her descriptions of the various types of men (and the women who are involved with them) was very funny. She devoted one brief chapter to explaining why "he" didn't call, which combined humor and down-home good sense as only the SPQ can do.

However, Conner-Browne's distinctive literary voice has changed over the years, and not for the better. In one chapter she goes on endlessly about her plastic surgery experience, from which she recuperates with a shopping spree. In another section, she describes her experience with acuptuncture, blissfully glossing over the expense of it. Previously, the SPQ came across as folksy and full of love-for-life. In discussing her high-priced indulgences, however, she comes across as spoiled and decadent. This kind of self-worshipping prattle distances her from those of us who don't have endless piles of money, and frankly makes her book less enjoyable to read.

Mind you, this doesn't mean that the latest SPQ book isn't worth reading. My wife and I agreed that we were both glad we read it. However, we also agreed that compared to the previous books in the series, it just wasn't as good.