What a title, eh? Sadly it isn't quite the full-on male chauvinist rant one might hope for: rather, Herter comes across as a cranky old geezer, possessed of numerous largely reactionary opinions which he unfortunately feels driven to express.
One of the eternal follies of old age is the delusion that you have a duty to record your insights into the nature of humanity before you perish, overlooking the fact that they are already common currency in every bar or taxicab in the world. In this respect, Herter is somewhat out of the common in that one might have to visit as many as three drinking establishments in a large town before finding his equal.
"I wrote this book to show that husbands and wives have a very difficult time of getting along", he states in his very brief introduction, incongruously placed beneath the book's copyright notice. On the evidence of this volume, in Herter's own marriage this difficulty may be intensified if at home he is as prone to enunciate his strong ideas - on such subjects as sex education (good), birth control (bad), psychiatry (very bad), the national debt (bad), God (very good), opinion polls (bad) - as often and at such length as in the book.
As well as these fascinating byways, Herter stays on topic long enough to give us two whole chapters on the subject of marriage, in which we learn, for example, that:
A girl more intelligent than yourself that will not play the role of being equally or less intelligent than you is a loser for the long pull.
and,
In Asia or the East as it is sometimes referred to, women are for the most part brought up to be submissive to men. Divorce is rare, I have talked to many of these women and in no case have found them unhappy with their lot.
(Mr Herter is just the sort that women confide in, so I'm sure we can trust his judgement).
His chapter on how to prevent divorce also informs us that nuclear reactors are very dangerous, and that men should not wear long hair. It also supplies this insight:
I am for progress to a degree but as yet have not become used to automobiles. I still prefer horses, say nothing about travelling in space ships.
The book is capped off nicely with an example of a form popular with self-published authors, a political allegory which demonstrates how simply the world could be put to rights if only humanity would come to recognise the sheer common sense of the author's views. In Herter's story a war hero with the transparent name of Paul Neetriht becomes President and establishes a supposedly benevolent form of dictatorship, with low taxes, no foreign aid and an interesting approach to dissent:
Paul quietly got the athiests and birth selectors out of public office and government control. No one was hurt, they were just gotten out and they knew better than to make a fuss.
Yes, that's democracy, folks.
We are not given any indication of what Herter's wife might have thought about his writings, though I doubt she was flattered by its title. Hopefully, she was inspired to write her own book in response, called perhaps "How to Live With a Bore (While Pretending to be More of an Idiot Than He Is)".
I have a post to contribute
Filtering is done by an
Filtering is done by an external service, Mollom. I am not in a position to guess what it doesn't like about your comment. Certain words and links are more likely to trigger these filters than others.
The horror...The Horror..The
My wife rarely stops
Sex four time in four years.
Sex four time in four years. You have indeed described a small corner of hell. And I am assuming those four times were not just with yourself, which would be another. You could of course, tell her to shut the hell up, take of her clothes and get down to business. You'd be amazed how much of what you describe you can put up with if you are getting laid of a regular basis. Goes for her too. Hell hath no fury like a woman un-fucked. Or so they say.
the book was published in
Maybe if you had learned even
Maybe if you had learned even the merest semblance of grammar, spelling (there is spell check here you know) and punctuation, someone might think you are not just a complete idiot. Just an idiot who knows grammar, spelling and punctuation. But alas, they don't and you don't.
You'd be really happy in
Well they are not. Funny
Well they are not. Funny that is. And your are making us all feel quite terrible with all you Iran and North Korea talk.... Can't you hear us crying?
George L. Herter.
Oh dear. That tired old
Oh dear. That tired old chestnut. Sorry, your hopes of humorousness are in vain.
The government made
The government made "permiscuity" cool? What government was that, exactly?
It's funny how nowadays everything that people dislike is somehow the responsibility of the government. Governments do a lot of terrible things but they aren't behind every social ill. Sometimes, I long for the good old days, when it was the Jews or the Communists or the Jewish Communists that did all the bad stuff.
Bring back the more old-fashioned stupidity. I just can't get used to this new way of being an idiot, it just seems wrong.
What government? What
What government? What government? The one that takes 40 to 50% of you income and then tells you that your are to stupid to know ho to spend it anyway. That one.
Unless of course you ALREADY ARE SUCH A STUPID MORON that you don't already know what government and then they just pat you on the head and say "Nice subject person". That one.
The one that know how to
The one that know how to spell promiscuity and knows what it means. That one. The one you apparently never heard of. No need to bring back the more old-fashioned stupidity as you suggest, You seem to be doing fine with the current version.
I find it interesting how
Kata: All that bitching and
Kata: All that bitching and complaining and all she get's is a crummy little tee shirt???? Didn't I see that on a crummy little tee shirt somewhere?
being a guy ..try living with
jUst fOr you sTrange jeAlous
What drugs are you taking?
What drugs are you taking? We really want to know? How can anyone get so F'd up without some MAJOR chemical assistance? Make that MAJOR, MAJOR Undiscovered universe chemical assistance.
why do atheists have to go
What can't a woman be more
What can't a woman be more like a man. Take a look between your legs and then between a man's and maybe you'll figure it out.
All facts show that many
Thank God for that! There is
Thank God for that! There is still some hope then that she'll find someone else to make miserable and run off with him and destroy his life? I sincerely hoe some. Any volunteers out there? TAKE MY WIFE! PLEASE!!
I have a friend that I
Woof, woof!!!!! By George I
Woof, woof!!!!! By George I think you've got it!!
I think the author of this
Jeannie, whatever you or anyone else thinks of Herter, this book is a collection of unremarkable ramblings of little interest apart from its provocative title. He comes across as something of a character, but being a character doesn't make you an author, sadly. It's not the worst book I've ever read, but if you look around the site you'll see that's a long way from being a compliment.
The Great and Powerful Alfred
The Great and Powerful Alfred has spoken!!! And no matter what "you or anyone else thinks" you are WRONG! WRONG he says!!! So there!!!! The Great and Powerful Alfred has determined the "this book is a collection of unremarkable ramblings of little interest apart from its provocative (great $5 word there Alfred) title." So let it be written! So let it be done! The all mighty has spoken. No more can be said.
Or can it??? Well OF COURSE it can! Oh happy day!
Alfred, where are your books? Provocative titles not withstanding? Where are your remarkable ramblings? Nowhere. That's where. How abut you take another try at it me boy and see if you can actually say something this time? Eh?
No, writing books and selling
No, writing books and selling them makes one an author. Herter did that. He sold many books and built an empire. Just because you don't agree with him doesn't make his books devoid of value. The NYT homage to him is proof of that. The guy started his business in the 30s. He smoked around his kids, threw trash out the car window, tossed his kids in the bed of a pick up, and drank from a garden hose. Guess what? EVERYBODY did back then, and most survived. Herter was often wrong but never in doubt. In a sanitized, PC world, his ludicrous rantings are to be savored. I notice that those who preach celebrating diversity only do so when it doesn't collide with their own beliefs. In your own way you are just as narrow-minded as Herter, and just as dogmatic (e.g. "whatever you think this book is a collection of unremarkable ramblings" sounds a lot like "the only way to prepare endive is by boiling it in butter").
What "sanitized, PC world"?
What "sanitized, PC world"? Have you been on that internet thing? And do you really think Herter's ramblings are other than unremarkable? This is nothing to do with his beliefs: if you look around this site you'll find plenty of examples of right-wing writing that are quite extraordinary, and I say so. Try The Leftist ESP Conspiracy, for example, or The World's Greatest Conspiracy Volume 1.