Please add your own review of The Committee below.
The publisher asks that negative reviews not be posted but rather mailed overnight delivery to: SomeOneWhoGives A-Damn 1234 Main Street, Anytown, Your State, USA 12345
Bob is on marriage number three. Having divorced twice due to his being a workaholic, it is interesting that now he is barely running a dying business selling software to multi-level marketers (a lot highly deserving of Loucks hilarious scorn), and is a barely functioning alcoholic. After receiving a depressing IRS statement, he drinks himself into a stupor, knocks himself out on his coffee table and finds himself confronted by his own inner committee, made up of Relationships, Finance, Ego, Guilt, Fear, and my favorite, Sex.
He has been ruled by these drives all his life and where has it gotten him? Divorced twice, unemployed; a loser. Into his cerebral cortex meeting room struts Robert - dressed like a CEO and in command the way Bob wishes he was. Robert (who, incidentally, reminds me of the consultants in the awesome movie Office Space... but I digress) tells Bob the way it is - the way he has been operating his life has not worked thus far and some changes have to be made. Robert wants to have personal interviews with each of Bob's committee members to ascertain what they have respectively rewarded and failed Bob with. Bob, who realizes his life can't really get much worse than it is, agrees to this.
Awaking from his concussion, he finds Nicole, wife #3 standing over him in disgust. Unlike his previous two wives, Nicole is a take-charge kind of person has decided to sell their failing business, and that she is going to change careers and oh, by the way, Bob needs to get off his ass and start bringing in some money. The committee members quickly caucus about this: Ego is outraged about his wife calling the shots, Sex is depressed because he knows he's not getting any tonight, Finance realizes Nicole is right, but Fear rears his head because Nicole's new career will be in real-estate, and talk about your iffy-propositions. What Bob really wants is a drink. While Bob takes all of this into consideration, Robert, Bob's internal CEO, interviews the various Committee members and goes through Bob's "archives" to see what got him into this current mess in the first place. Clearly some Committee members need to be put in their place and some have more influence than other (especially Sex, naturally).
In the meantime, Bob takes a job he loathes, the "Al Bundy" job of working in a women's shoe store. He hates it but he has to bring in some sort of income. Ego is not happy about this at all but one must do what one must do. After much archival digging, audits, and Committee member interviews, Robert councils Bob on what he must do in order to get his life back together, despite the vociferous complaints of some committee members, especially Fear (who eventually gets thrown into the vault).
This book is very well written, easy to read, and is at times hysterical. Sure, Bob may be a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal at times (that is, when Ego takes over), but he is a very likable, mostly typical middle-aged American man trying to save his marriage and get his life together. Author Loucks may have written this book for men to relate to, but I highly suggest women read it to, in order to get an insight into the inner-workings of men. Loucks is a natural talent, and I look forward to reading his next novel.
I got used to the style and to the kind of person Bob Johntson is. He's the kind of guy who is not as substantial as he would like to be. He has self-doubts. He is attractive to women, but can't seem to build and keep a relationship. He drinks too much and he's a bit of a sexist pig. He has some insight into himself, but instead of taking responsibility for his actions he has a "committee" inside his head composed of the following guys, Sex, Ego, Relationships, Finance, Guilt, and Fear that he blames for his troubles. And of course they blame one another. There are subcommittee members as well, such as Self-Esteem, who tend to further gum up the mental modules.
As the novel opens Bob's life is in turmoil. His Internet business is bombing out, he's in trouble with the IRS, his third marriage is on the skids and he seems unable to take any kind of constructive action. Abruptly there appears a new sort of CEO of his brain, who dresses in fancy suits and likes to be called Robert. He is taking charge. He begins to interview the various members of the committee. Ego worries about not being macho enough or looking good enough, and feels slighted when the wife makes him do housework. Sex is always trying to look up someone's dress and push the "erection button." Relationships worries about being social and having friends and saving the marriage. Guilt does what guilt does and Fear gets scared a lot.
Loucks does a good job of making each committee member unique and clearly distinguishes them from one another. He offers some good insight into the workings of a subclass of the beta American male. His prose is readable. The dialogue is authentic and funny at times. I think the device of the committee allows Loucks to reveal aspects of his protagonist's character that would be otherwise muted or drowned out by what would be the consensus that we usually think of as someone's "personality."
There is an authentic kind of lime green stucco, white trim/pickup on the front lawn/beer belly/silicon tit/dog neighborhood feel to some of this. The denizens are Las Vegas types who are tired of dealing cards or waiting on tables who missed out on college degrees and now at forty-something are trying to get solvent in the Vegas real estate boom. Loucks has a keen eye and ear for the indigenous Las Vegas culture.
We have to appreciate the protagonist's honesty about himself even though it is filtered through "The Committee." Yes, the "Man's Inner Voices" part of the subtitle is an important part of this work. Being a man myself I can say for the women who might read this, yes, it's really that bad.
This is a novel, but is also billed as "Humor/Self-help." It is humorous and well written and for some it may even be helpful. This might also work as sociology.
I wish I had this book before I married, both times.
The Committee: Man’s Inner Voices and Who Left the Toilet Seat Up? is the key to understanding how men think and why their behavior is so bizarre in the eyes of the average woman. Author Bill Loucks educates while entertaining and may very well be asked to relinquish his “manhood” card because he reveals so many of the secrets his species holds dear.
The book’s protagonist is Bob Johnston, a 47-year-old depressed, functioning alcoholic with a failing business and troubled marriage. When his third wife, Nicole, returns to the job market as Bob struggles to maintain a hold of their once thriving enterprise, he settles into a rut of morning to night drinking and self-pity. While Bob realizes the role he has played in the decline of his financial and personal life, he finds it easier to defer blame, decisions, and actions to his internal Committee: Relationships, Finance, Sex, Guilt, Ego, and Fear. These voices, which often hold exhausting fights inside his head, are given accountability for what has happened and will occur in Bob’s life. This makes things a lot easier, plus Bob won’t lose any points this way. The appearance of a new voice one day after a mildly inebriated Bob hits his head brings this little party of pass-the-buck to a halt, resulting in Bob learning to behave differently in the world.
Robert is Bob’s voice of reason. He makes a point of informing Bob that one voice is what most people have to work with, not the schizophrenic collective that he has corralled. Through interviews with each of the main Committee members (there are also subcommittee members like Self-esteem, which makes the idea of this ensemble even scarier) and a search through Bob’s archive of life experiences (that takes weeks to complete), Robert introduces techniques to assist Bob in taking responsibility for the Committee and his life. Meanwhile, outside of his head, Bob is faced with finding a job (which he does) and adjusting to his wife’s successful venture into real estate (that takes longer, but he gets there). The Committee is often in chaos as the life changes progress. Ego, who is the epitome of the stereotypical cave man, is frequently vocal as is Fear, who manages to agitate all of the Committee members often forcing Bob to ply himself with alcohol to get any sleep at all.
This book should be required reading for all men and a standard bridal shower gift. Loucks illustrates the internal struggles that many men labor with. In addition to popping the hood on the man-machine and providing a slew of crass, male-friendly jokes, Loucks uses tough love to force his main character to look deep inside of the problems he would normally throw into the vault to avoid dealing with them. Bob is challenged repeatedly by Robert and is scared into action: “If you choose to continue down the same path knowing there are other options, you relinquish your right to complain.”
The Committee is brilliant, funny, timely, and effective. It is a story that women can benefit from as well as their men.
Now I’ll be better prepared when husband number three shows up.
Melissa Levine For Independent Professional Book Reviewers www.bookreviewers.org
Great job Bill, I think it's a wonderfully written book - and I'm not just being paid to say that anymore. :)
Hope I don't have too long to wait for the next Committee adventure ...
I found myself relating to the main character, Bob, as he struggles through a tough time in his life. Having been through some of life’s ups and downs over the years (as well all do), at times I knew there were things I had to change and was still resistant to the process. Seeing Bob face similar challenges made me smile and relate to the poor guy.
I found myself cheering him on, only to laugh at how much harder he was making the entire process. His thoughts and Committee views were outrageous at times, yet when we take at honest look at our own thought processes, I could see myself many times as Bob. I think most men will too. Women will see how their men think.
The Committee characters were right on the money and the mischievous Sex was a favorite of mine, followed closely by the hot-headed Ego. I know in my life, both of these characters have also created havoc for me.
When I read the back cover and saw it labeled “Fiction, Humor, and Self-Help”, I thought how odd that a book could be included in all of these genres. After finishing The Committee, it all made sense. Unlike other self-help books that are dry and boring, this one makes you think about yourself and learn how to handle relationships differently, if you so choose.
I won’t ruin the ending, but I know that many other men have done the same thing as Bob and may be better off if they follow his lead.
I highly recommend this book and give it a 5 on the 1-5 scale.
Tom Newark, NJ
Powered by InstantEcom
