Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid

Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid
Suzanimals avatar reviewed on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


I really like Denis Leary - he's a great comic and "Rescue Me" is a great show.

But I got a little bored and fed up with this book. Yeah, OK - Leary's a "guy's guy" - and he's gotta tell you that over and over. Sweeping generalizations about both men and women run rampant through this book. In the foreword, he warns the reader it's just for the joke. But I have to think he really thinks this way more times than not. In his book he says when drunk people say nasty things we tend to give them some slack because they were drunk - but really they're just saying things they really mean without the filter of sobriety. So I wonder if Leary's early warning of "don't take me too seriously" can be construed the same way.

He has a chapter about how he hates cats. Part of what he says is true - dogs are much more useful in helping humans. But his only relationship to a cat is his own barn cat. That's too bad - if he took the time to get to know a domesticated housecat he might understand more of their complexity vs. seeing a slightly feral barn cat be so aloof.

I gave up on the women vs. men chapters when he didn't even have the "BFF" term correct. C'mon!