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   Sunday, December 07, 2003  
i don't usually do book reviews or review anything really anymore, but there's a new book out that i have a feeling that if you knew existed you'd like. if you like me.

american bachelor is a photo book of about 100 pictures of thirtysomething men, their homes, their loves, their wishes, and their lifestyles.

mostly set in southern california, with a suprisingly sensitive storyline of a man who doesn't really want to be a bachelor forever, but isn't going to get all crazy inside if he never gets hitched.

for the most part these pictures are of men's men. theyre not prettyboys, they have dirty apartments and well worn floors. there's a hint of recreational drug use, social drinking, after hours dance parties in small apartments, drunken toplessnesses, skateboard collections, mattel old school l.e.d games, cigarette smoking and so cal surfing.

the pictures show a promise of bachelorhood the way a highschool boy would want it: individualistic, rough around the edges, sloppy, and fun. in nearly every picture you can see the need for a womans touch, and its sorely missing, in a good way.

the lie of the tv series thirtysomething was that once you were no longer fresh out of college you had to be all serious and wear button down shirts and beards and buy houses, beemers, and baby diapers.

these hundred and thirty pages give an alternative that to some might be far more appealing.

the cover photo shows a young shirtless man laughing while holding a blended margarita in a goblet. he has a little hair on his chest, hair in his armpits, wetlooking short hair on his head, a casual five o'clock shadow, and seemingly not a care in the world. not the babyfat on his gut, not the lack of trendy tattoo on his arm, not the impending dark clouds behind him.

his goblet is definitely half full.

the women inside are attractive and adult. theyve been around the block a few times. and will be around it a few times more.

the men shoot lighter fluid into the flaming weber grill. they wear boas cuz theyre so not gay. they iron their shirts next to their cluttered sinks.

i like this book because its cribs minus the fame. the fridges are mostly barren, just like theyve been since college. the beds are unmade, and the magazine pages that are scotch taped onto the walls could be from the same magazines that i scotch taped onto my walls... under the nerf hoop beneath the christmas lights.

these are the friends the friends of Friends have in real life california. their real friends.

if you want to have a quickie little glimpse into the world of right now, here it is.

and it doesn't suck.

american bachelor
by michael rababy
get it at americanbachelor.com
or on amazon


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