VoiceMale: What Husbands Really Think About Their Marriages, Their Wives, Sex, Housework, and Commitment (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As Chethik learns from in-depth interviews with 70 men and a survey of another 288, sex, money, in-laws, styles of communication, the division of housework and child-rearing philosophy are the most volatile areas of the marriage relationship. No surprises there. But within those categories Chethik culls insights about the importance of these issues and successful strategies husbands employ to minimize the friction they create. For example, Chethik (FatherLoss) found that couples who divide housework satisfactorily are less likely to consider divorce, less likely to stray, less likely to say their marriages are unstable, and, for good measure, they have more frequent sex. According to Chethik, marriages pass through four phases—newlyweds, family times, empty nest and mature marriage—and he explores husbands' changing viewpoints as they pass through these stages. Readers will find the discussions of mature marriages most original and will also be encouraged by the level of happiness reported by so many men in long-lasting relationships. Chethik ends with a number of suggestions on how to develop a happy marriage that are well taken and offered with a generous spirit.
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Review

"Neil Chethik gives us fresh research, new thinking, and surprising conclusions to the question 'What do men really want?' as well as useful information for men about men, and for the women who live with them. This is a book that will challenge gender stereotypes."

-- Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls and Writing to Change the World --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074325872X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743258722
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,250 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating!, January 28, 2006

By	Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In this fascinating book, the author of FatherLoss looks at what American men really think about women and marriage. Drawing on information gathered from a national telephone survey, and from in-depth interviews with some 70 husbands, the author found surprising links between good fathers and good marriages, between housework and sex, and between working together and marital success.

Overall, I must say that I found this to be an absolutely fascinating book. You would think that as I am a husband, that this book would have nothing new to say to me. Well, in fact I learned a lot from this book. First of all, I found that some of the issues between my wife and I are not unique to ourselves, but are part of many marriages. But, most of all, I enjoyed the advice given by men in the book, it is a goldmine of information on running a successful marriage.

This is a fantastic book, one that I highly recommend to all women that want to understand the man in their lives, and to all men that want to understand themselves and their marriage just a little better. I give this book my highest recommendations!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely wise and helpful book!, January 23, 2006

By	Robert Ferguson PhD "Psychologist" (Chapel Hill NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"This is an extremely wise and helpful book. The stories are fascinating, and the research solid. The thoughts and feelings of husbands are presented with insight and compassion. Women will better understand men, and men will better understand themselves. I recommend this excellent book."
--Robert Ferguson, PhD Psychologist

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Men and women should celebrate this book!, May 29, 2006

By	S. D. Haltzman (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Author Neil Chethik has written an excellent, thoughtful, easy to read and enlightening view of the world of married men. They say statistics can lie, and I was wary when I saw the number: 288 married men, I worried that the results may not reflect the "average" man who struggles with the challenges of husbanding. Quite the contrary, Chethik's results parallel all the major studies done about men, and reinforce some of the keys to a happy marriages that researchers have discovered in the last 20 years.

I was a bit worried at the beginning of the book, because it seemed like all the interviews were with men in their second (or more) marriages. But, as the book progressed, I saw more representation of first marriages, and, in fact, like it or not, many men are already in their second marriage, so why not use their "expertise" and experience as well. This vehicle ended up being able to be used to the book's advantage, because it provided input into more marriages--the ones that worked and the ones that didn't work!

Chethik's first book, FatherLoss, was a winner, and this book is the same. I recommend it to many people who buy my book: "The Secrets of Happily Married Men."