cover image How to Duck a Suckah: A Guide to Living a Drama-Free Life

How to Duck a Suckah: A Guide to Living a Drama-Free Life

Big Boom. Fireside Books, $15 (175pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-4653-5

Author and ""Bodyguard for Women's Hearts"" Boom provides tough love that's as frank as it is old-fashioned, a style best demonstrated by the title of his first book, If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs. A former bad boy (read: working pimp) himself, Boom warns that ""men are always looking for something to catch or shoot down,"" but locates the real problem in the woman ""who refuses to let go... or change her bad habits."" To that end, Boom spends much time chiding women for ignoring unwritten rules of gender relations like, ""Girls follow, men lead."" In a chapter called ""Appearance"" (Boom is nothing if not straightforward), the author starts with ""Seven Important Beauty Basics Steps My Wife Uses"" before moving on to tips like ""Don't Wear Your Clothes Too Tight,"" keep your home clean and remember the small things: ""I can't tell you how many good women I have turned down,"" Boom says, because of ""something stupid"" like ""the way her toenails look."" The assumption throughout is that it's far easier and more effective to play along with superficial attitudes (among men and women alike) than to change them; if you can embrace the game, and put up with some well-intentioned chauvinism, this is an able primer.