Design Flaws of the Human Condition | 
| Author: Paul Schmidtberger
Publisher: Broadway
Category: EBooks
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $7.96
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Rating:  12 reviews
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B000TIO5FE
Publication Date: July 17, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
As can only happen in New York, two strangers find themselves railroaded into an anger-management class, where they soon become fast friends. Iris is there because of an eminently justifiable meltdown on a crowded flight, whereas Ken got caught defacing library books with rude (but true!) messages about his former boyfriend. The boyfriend that he caught in bed with another man.
Needless to say, Iris and Ken were cosmically destined to be friends. What follows is a strikingly original comedy as Ken enlists Iris to infiltrate his ex-boyfriend’s life in the hope of discovering that he’s miserable. And Iris reciprocates, dispatching Ken to work himself into the confidence of her own boyfriend, whom she suspects of cheating. But what if Ken’s ex isn’t crying himself to sleep? What if he’s not the amoral fiend Ken wants to believe he is? And what should Iris do when her worst suspicions start to come true? Exactly how perfect do we have the right to expect our fellow human beings to be?
Anger, betrayal, loyalty, and friendship—Design Flaws of the Human Condition explores these universal themes with wisdom, compassion, and a wickedly irreverent sense of humor.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Leading candidate for best of 2008 October 24, 2008
David M. Giltinan (San Francisco)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am, apparently, irredeemably shallow. How else to explain how much I enjoyed this book? A "Will and Grace"-type story about the floundering relationships of self-involved Manhattan dwellers. Cheating boyfriends, loathsome lawyers, anger management classes* .... The wannabe "serious reader" inside my head groaned every time I picked it up. When my copy of "The Savage Detectives" has been lying there unopened for several months now.
So be it. The fact is, I loved this book. It was hilariously funny, compulsively readable, and managed to be quite touching. Schmidtberger pulls off a pretty neat trick - by the end of his hugely entertaining, very funny story, he makes the reader care deeply about his flawed (but entirely believable) characters. And I thought his ending was hugely satisfying.
No, it wasn't "great literature". But it was a terrific read. Which has got to count for something, right?
*: One of the main protagonists experiences meltdown on a flight to Newark, the horrifying inevitability of which Schmidtberger nails hilariously. A great book to read on a plane, or at the beach.
Clever, funny, & well-written October 8, 2008
Heather Stimmler Hall (Paris, France)
A friend of mine gave me this book, and as soon as I started reading I couldn't put it down. Great characters, hilarious commentary on modern life, and a very satisfying ending. If you're looking for an intelligent yet lighthearted look at relationships, this is hard to beat. The "message" sneaks up on you instead of beating you over the head. It's one of the few books I would happily re-read!
Friendship,, Loyalty, Anger and Betrayal September 21, 2008
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Schmidtberger, Paul. "Design Flaws of the Human Condition", Broadway, 2007.
Friendship, Loyalty, Anger and Betrayal
Amos Lassen
"Design Flaws of the Human Condition" by Paul Schmidtberger is a wonderful satire of inconvenience and indignity with is full of wit, humor, unforgettable characters and lots of wisdom.
Set in New York City, here is a book about love, friendship and anger. We have two couples--Iris Steegers and Jeremy Elberle and Ken Connelly and Brett Manikin. Iris loses control on a flight and is ordered to go to anger-management classes. She also discovers that Jeremy may be cheating. Ken also has a problem with controlling his temper and is fired from his job because of it. On the very same day he finds Brett in bed with another man. He decides to also go to anger-management class. He meets Iris and the two decide to use each other to spy on their partners. What they learn is what the definition of what happiness is and whether or not being in a relationship brings happiness. They also learn what it takes to make happiness happen and how to deal with it.
Reading about how two people become friends is interesting and they become a comic duo. The twists and turns keep you reading and they characters are involved in a situation that we can all relate to. The author has everything figured out and timed just right. Here are two characters that are very different who after being thrown together form a friendship that is very real. The book had me laughing all the way through. Amid the laughter is a very real message about friendship.
LOVED IT! October 9, 2007
A. Horwitz (New York)
This book is so great, I loved it! It's hilarious and endearing, witty and full of heart. I loved all the characters (design flaws included) and the dialogue is priceless. It's also incredibly well-written. Not a wasted word, everything is in there for a reason. Paul Schmidtberger is a fabulous author and I hope to read more from him in the future!
Fun, fantastic writing September 11, 2007
Julie Vestal
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am not a topical reader. I like great writing, and this author is talented! I hope to read more from him in the future. The story is realistic, full of irony and sophisticated humor.
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