It's a slim book (171 pages) with a big mission: teaching men "how to survive and thrive with style." The Gentleman's Guide to Life (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 1997) gives tips on selecting a tie, buying art, losing love handles, bluffing your way through a wine list and endearing yourself to your girlfriend's parents. "The premise of the book is that there are a lot of men who are fairly clueless and want some answers," says author Steve Friedman, '77.
A former senior editor at GQ magazine, Friedman offers advice in four categories: fashion, fitness, romance and "living large," which he defines as "basic things guys need to know." For example: "If you break it off, she often gets to keep the engagement ring." And: "Do not ever call a bottle of wine 'promiscuous' or 'sluttish.' You will fool no one."
The tone, Friedman admits, "veers between how-to and sophomoric yucks." He says he wanted to poke fun at people who take this sort of subject too seriously: "Whether you have cuffs on your pants isn't going to be the difference between misery and ecstasy."
Friedman, 42, lives in New York, where he is working on a second book. He confesses that he's never been the sharpest dresser. "If any of my classmates read that I wrote a book on fashion, their reaction will either be hilarity or horror."
