For the Guys: A Review of Bachelor 101
You may or may not recognize his name, but Jamie Reidy is the real Pfizer salesman who Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is based on in Love & Other Drugs. The movie was scripted from Reidy’s book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. After viewing the film, I did a little Google reconnaissance on Mr. Reidy and discovered his other book Bachelor 101: Cooking + Cleaning = Closing, 30+ idiot-proof recipes broken down into a step-by-step process so simple even a bachelor can understand. Of course, I had to read it.
Divided into three parts – Food, Abode, Dude – the book breaks down the steps to cooking, cleaning and personal grooming into such minute detail they’re virtually impossible to foul up. The recipes are especially “idiot-proof.” Each includes a list: Ease, Cost, Preparation Time, Cooking Time, Ingredients and Tools (cutting board, spoon, etc.), followed by the directions.
Example:
1. Unwrap SALAMI and PARMESAN CHEESE.
2. Place SALAMI and PARMESAN CHEESE on the cutting board/serving platter.
3. Open can of BLACK OLIVES.
4. Spoon 10 BLACK OLIVES onto small plate #1.
5. Open jar of GREEN OLIVES.
6. Spoon 10 GREEN OLIVES onto small plate #1.
7. Spoon 20 ARTICHOKE HEARTS onto small plate #2.
See? Simple.
“Part One: Food” contains a list of appetizers, salads, beef, poultry, pork, seafood, pasta and pizza, vegetarian entrees, veggie sides, starchy sides, dessert and breakfast.
“Part Two: Abode” provides dudes with cleaning guidelines for sprucing up their living spaces. Reidy lists cleaning supplies and describes how to use the products in the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and, perhaps the most important room, the bedroom. He also offers decorating tips: “The easiest, safest and most effective way to spruce up the refrigerator is with kids’ artwork. Chicks love guys who aren’t too macho to display their love for children; what better way to do this than by displaying the terrible artwork of little people?” According to Reidy, a part of sprucing up living spaces includes erasing questionable DVR saves (porn) and ensuring medications (Viagra®) are kept out of eye view. Also, “You should practice always putting down the toilet seat in your own home,” he writes. “This way, it will become second nature to you, eliminating the risk of leaving the seat up at her place and proving you are a selfish ogre.” Sage advice.
In “Part Three: Dude,” Reidy writes of the importance of a “pre-flight checklist,” which includes plucking errant hairs from eyebrows, nose and ears, and performing more serious landscaping on the face, neck and below the belt.
Engaging, informative and simple to follow, the book is a must read for single, committed and married men who need domestic assistance. Ladies will appreciate the effort.
