How to Fail: The Self-Hurt Guide Paperback – Import, 9 November 2010

An epically hilarious, realistic view into the life of a modern 30-something bachelor bum!I sat listening to my Kindle read this to me with a number of ales in one hand, a chain of cigarettes in the other, slouched on my couch in my boxers with the TV blaring mindless adverts and a cold, day old, non-specific pizza calling for a second attempt. This was breakfast time.At the very beginning I had, almost literally, pissed myself laughing at the debauched, useless bum that is Stuart, by the end of Chapter One I was like, "Hey! Is this a book or a mirror?!". Chapter Two comes and it's like.. "Hmm.. This is getting disturbingly accurate!", and so on, all while simultaneously bursting out into guffaws (and the accompanying coughing fits) at this losers antics!If you're a "Successful", enjoy this shocking insight into the way real people live (albeit through a fictional character)! If you're a "Stuart", welcome to the most honest, accurate, disturbing realisation of who you actually are!Which ever, be prepared to be appalled, shocked, disturbed and rolling on the floor in hysterics all at the same time!At just under £2.00 it's the best half-a-pint of beer I never drank!

i read this to annoy my other half who is into self help books and frequently threatens/ suggests i read them. it is hilarious especially the first ten chapters. i literally was in pain from laughing (first time I've used my abs in years!).the ways to while away time at work, the drinking, lack of abolutions all were sooo funny. i think men would find it even funnier as a lot of it is about getting laid and other related activities. the book got a bit lost towards the end as I presumed he would end up a happy bum on the streets of new york

Sorry - not my kind of humour. I guess I failed to see the funny side. Maybe I'm getting old !

There are lots of books out there by authors who profess to be failures at something - life, love, work, commitment, you name it. Some are rueful, some wry, the funnier ones have an engaging self-deprecating air to them. But, most of those books are built around either or both of the following tendencies: a thirty something need to appear as lame as possible, or an inability to disguise the fact that the author is actually pretty darn impressed with himself. Where the need to portray oneself as an incompetent doofus comes from, I don't know. But it wears thin pretty quickly as entertainment, if it wears at all. As to the false modesty boys, well how much time do you spend with the ones you know like that in real life?The beauty of this book is that the author isn't just working a doofus "bit", or playing at being a failure. He has looked long and hard at the world around him and he is not encouraged. And he has turned what he has seen into brutal, funny and telling commentary on his and our current state. There are terrific one-liners, throwaway observations, set pieces, and descriptions. This is very smart, accomplished stuff, not just frat boy humor or tales of drunken excess. And get this, beneath it all there is a bit of sweetness and fundamental decency that makes the acerbic commentary all the more telling. What a remarkably successful failure.

I am still very undecided about this book, but have gone for a three star review. I found Stu to be incredibly annoying and not actually a failure. In order to fail, I have always assumed one first has to try, and our narrator never really did. He was an arrogant, self-obsessed __ (insert your word of choice here), who felt he was so wonderful and talented, life owed him greatness without him getting his backside off a bar stool for five minutes to actually attempt to achieve it. The title should have been "How to be a total waste of space".Having said that, putting aside my dislike of the character, I could actually find some parts of this book amusing. I thought the self help format was a clever medium and was quite well executed from a writing point of view, although the kindle format, layout, links etc seemed to fall short. The humorous rantings were sometimes a little overdone, but I did enjoy the cast of characters that were developed throughout. Many of his dislikes seemed to stem from petulance and jealousy, but what can one expect from someone who refuses to advance from a mental age of fourteen? Same with the use of coarse and vulgar language. They may offend some, but to me, they were to be expected from juvenile and puerile Stu.I think Aaron Goldfarb is a talented writer, but I'd like to see his skills put to better use.