Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't get half way through it...
Review: I really despise books which bear little relation to their title, and this is a pretty prime example. The cover wording was evidently made up by someone who'd fondled one too many copies of Cosmo. It's entirely misleading regarding what's inside.First, the author is no cad. (I know because I am one and he's never at the meetings...) In fact, Marin is from a pretty decent Toronto family/neighborhood, got a first job at Harper's after journalism grad school, and did other respectable and semi-adult things (like try to make money) after. Not typical cad territory, I'm betting. What seems to qualify him as a cad is that he occasionally dates women, maybe sleeps with them, and then doesn't marry them. Also, that he keeps some sort of diary (i.e., secret un-PC notes). Whoo-wee, call out the Terminator! Second, Marin is no bachelor -- if you take a bachelor to be a never-married male above a certain age. He's divorced. And the whole first part of the book has insufferable and totally uninteresting details about his wife, how they met and fell in love, their typical break-up, ladeedadeeda... And even if you give him some leeway because they didn't have any kids in their approx. four years together, he's not even (or much over) thirty; ya gotta be over 35 (40's better) to really qualify as a bachelor. (Quick, someone contact ABC!) I think the cover writer just thought "toxic bachelor" sounded hip and disparaging of males in the way now deemed to be socially acceptable in some unenlightened circles populated by bigots -- much like "testosterone poisoning" was a few years ago. Ok, so she probably took one too many Feminist Studies classes in college learned to hate men. Insightful the term is not. Marin actually comes across as a pretty nice and decent guy with more or less typical dating woes. Which makes for really boring reading. Third, the only part of what you see on the cover that might vaguely be accurate is the "confessions" part, since the material *is* autobiographical. But it's not like these pages were beaten out of him under a bare bulb after hours of duress and torture. At times he almost sounds like he's boasting a little. (Cads always do that.) I guess the idea is to make women think they're being given the inside scoop on the psyche of the elusive single male, which they're not -- at least not to any great degree IMO. The term "confessions" suggests the material should at least be unusual and maybe even interesting, but this is not. The plethora of virtually meaningless detail (one of the common hazards of keeping a diary), the lack of much if anything new in the way of perspective, and the author's tendency to try too hard at sounding pithy and clever -- all this made it difficult to get more than about 120 pages into this thing before seeing the writing on the wall and giving up. And I really don't care how it turned out or even why he was writing it all down a decade later.
Rating: 
Summary: amusing book, but no insight into real toxic bachelors
Review: i thought this was entertaining enough, if you read it as a story about a hapless male writer trying to find a woman in new york. but i was terribly disappointed about the whole "insight into the mind of The Man Who Doesn't Call" part. sad thing is, real toxic bachelors aren't going to be writing memoirs anytime soon because they probably can't even put pen to paper to describe their feelings and they are too busy double booking dates with 19 year olds. meanwhile, this guy's idea of a seduction technique is to take his glasses off a certain way, and at the end he cries. and admits it. nothing wrong with that, but i think it disqualifies him from toxic bachelor status.
Rating: 
Summary: Yup, he's a cad
Review: I'm pleased I never dated Ric Marin. He sounds charming and all, but seriously bad news. Best way to enjoy a man like this is from a distance - book's pretty darn funny, and it's about as close to him as I'd ever like to get. (Actually, I wish I'd dated him and dumped him)
Rating:
Summary: pretty funny
Review: Lauged out loud three times. Not bad for me. Marin thinks that he is pretty funny - and he is. I loved it, and so did my wife. We both enjoyed his sly asides. He's pretty merciless in skewering a string of inappropriate girlfriends, but he lets you know that redemption is only a few chapters away. This is a more credible, and more sensitive, version of Toby Young's bestseller.
Rating:
Summary: A hilarious, exhilarating ride through the 1990s
Review: Marin has written a book about men and women that really tells the definitive story about life in the 1990s. It's about the intersection of celebrity culture and the rest of us who aren't celebrities but who feel the need to act like celebrities and live like celebrities in order to have authentic experiences. It's one of the funniest, truest books I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Insufferable and yet...sufferable
Review: Marin's a jerk and it's his only claim to fame. His jobs are so sad I don't know how he kept going (vodka or no vodka). His sexual exploits are sad, his first apt is sad, buying the next one on mom and dad's dime is sad. And yet, the work is fast, readable and enjoyable. I just cannot fathom how he got ANYONE to sleep with, let alone marry, him. Or what he'd ever write next.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding humor and talent
Review: Marin's book is successful on two fronts. First, I've always been a fan of self-deprecating humor, finding it to be the best, because it requires both insight and guts, and usually reveals a personality that's likeable, a mind that's spinning, and a desire to connect that's disarming. That's the case here, with Marin's asides about himself being some of the best and funniest in the book. Second, Marin is a terrific writer, with an easy style that partners with fine craftsmanship. What a terrific book.
Rating:
Summary: A fast and somewhat cliched read...
Review: Marin's book was something I read less than day. It was easy and, at times, quite amusing. He is something of lovable Cad. His New York is one most of us never get to experience and is somewhat exciting. Still, after while, you start to wonder when love will find him again. The stories aren't as outrageous as I hoped (perhaps I've watched too many sitcoms), although there are a few laughs. The end, which was real life for him, seems cliched and forced (even if true). And a bit sad. Still, I hope for the best for the "cad" and his "Cadette" as he calls her in the opening.
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly entertaining...
Review: Mildly entertaining is being nice. He has really done nothing more than any other guy that has faced the dilemma of having to date again after the break-up of a long serious relationship, or in his case marriage. The truth here is he tries to make his life sound more entertaining than it is; his circumstances make his life interesting not him (He is in NYC). After all, put him in Idaho and have him tell this story and nobody cares - he wouldn't even get the book published. If that doesn't persuade you not to buy it, check out the companion website and you'll see how truly average this guy really is.
Rating:
Summary: Dating from a Man¿s Perspective
Review: Rick Marin takes the reader through his dating hell with neurotic women, overbearing matchmakers, and well-meaning friends. The author offers an accurate and funny peak at dating in your 30s and beyond. While the setting for this memoir is New York, it could easily have been placed in any cosmopolitan city. The book is often laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes a bit depressing as the author moves from one screwball date to the next. The tone of the book shifts near the end, and Marin grows up a bit. The book's primary weakness is that it doesn't give full shrift to the growth of the author as the book reaches its close. We're not quite sure if the author has truly grown up or just gotten temporarily exhausted of dating nuts.
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