Design Flaws of the Human Condition

by Paul Schmidtberger

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767926757
• ISBN13: 9780767926751
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 323 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Rarely seen before - a love story about friendship!

This book had me laughing out loud over and over again, but when all was said and done, its message was actually quite touching--poignant. Without giving anything away, the book is really a love story about friendship, and for an avid reader like me, that's a very welcome twist on convention. Very wry, very witty, and very very wise.

More, please!

This book was very funny, some of it tears-down-the-cheeks funny, but at the same time, it offered thoughtful insight into serious matters of the heart. Fluid writing. Engaging story. But what I liked most of all was the desire I had at the end of the book to track down Ken and Iris, the two main characters, and somehow get myself invited to their next dinner party!

Funny Debut Novel

Infidelity. Spying. Nasty lawyers. Straight couples. Gay couples. New York. The author has them all figured out. A very funny and lively book about two very different people thrown together under difficult circumstances. They make the best of a bad situation and learn a lot about each other, themselves, and their partners along the way. Well written with clever dialogue.

Sedaris, Franzen and Schmidtberger...

My funny better be good. I have expectations. I hold to the high standards of Salinger, Wilde, and those guys who did 'Mr. Show.' Paul did funny here. He's also managed to do insightful, thoughtful and sharp, which ain't bad either. It's always a pleasure to find an author who recognizes the foibles of humanity, whether ridiculous or touching. And, well, who's funny too.

I didn't want it to end!

I picked this book up because I couldn't tell right away if the title was supposed to be serious, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, or all of the above, which is basically the answer. I love the way the author drew such realistic characters, flaws and all. I really cared what happened to Ken and Iris, and to me, that's the mark of a good book. That and the fact that I didn't want it to end! I also laughed out loud a few times, which I rarely do when reading, and I liked the way that the humor snuck up on me because so much humor today - in books or especially on TV - is designed to hit you over the head.