Product Description

With the publication of "The Average American Male" and the release of the viral videos that promoted it online-videos that shocked the nation - Chad Kultgen became one of the most talked-about authors of 2007. Now, with "The Lie", Kultgen returns with a more searching novel that reaches even deeper into the craven inner workings of some of most depraved minds in America: college students. His subjects are Brett, Kyle, and Heather: the manipulative rich kid with a disdain for women and a closet full of sex toys; his best friend, the brooding science dork who's a secret dynamo in bed; and the social climbing sorority girl who, with one lie, can destroy them all.As Heather makes a play for Brett's money and the ultimate relationship - one that calculatingly leads her into Kyle's bed and heart - Kultgen will have guys second-guessing at just how cutthroat an average sorority girl can be. Told from all three shockingly uncensored points of view, "The Lie" opens up a dark reality where sex is a social tool and status means everything.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #236860 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

The Lie
I decided to read this book after reading the Average American Male, Chad Kultgen's debut. I had found it to be very funny and entertaining and so was quite curious to see how this book held up against it. I have to say I liked it.

The book is focused on the lives of three individuals; Brett, Heather and Kyle. Kyle is the nice guy, hopelessly in love with Heather and just starting out at university, Heather is the social climber and Brett is the sociopathic, handsome and rich friend of Kyle. Each of these three characters take turns telling the story of their interactions with each other from their perspective. What you are left with are three people who in turn, deceive themselves and are self serving.

I know I wanted Heather to be punished for her grasping ways but what i liked most about the book was the way that Chad refused to idealise life but rather rewarded the characters that did not delude themselves. The book is very funny and I loved the way that Chad managed to change the prose to properly shape the character's voices.

Definitely an interesting and enjoyable read!

Amibivalent Poetry
The Lie - Follows the lives of 3 protagonists through their intertwining lives at University. Brett, a well educated, vocab savvy misogynistic boy, due to inherit his fathers fortune has more distain for the opposite sex than just about anyone on the planet. Heather, the sorority girl who only has eyes on material wealth and being part of the 'scene' that she believes will give her happiness. And Kyle, your average run of the mill college boy, who see's the world at first through a child's eyes, with youthful optimism only for delusions of gradneur and the fact that the life we live isn't always as rosey as Hollywood, has cast a black hole in his heart and he wants revenge.

With each chapter focusing on one side of the story from each of the characters you feel empathy, the frustration, humour at their choices, decisions and faults that we all make in life, and sometimes wish we could know what someone else was thinking or look ahead to what was happening, so we wouldn't have said that, or done that if we had just known... You read each word, and already know what will happen with the choices kyle makes, and how you wish you could get him to change them, and feel helpless, but know deep down that you yourself could so easily do the same, when you're looking through rose tinted glasses and end up being part of the lie.

The language used in this book is so apt for its time with every second word leaving Heather's mouth being the interminable, 'like' Chad has managed to capture the way in which today's youthful society look at relationships and life, and I applaud it's deplorable honesty in each instance. Brett's hatred of women, seeing them merley as object's for his using and abusing is almost justified in the way the women will do pretty much anything in the hopes that it will bring them a better life.. and in today's material money hungry world of fake celebrities and Big Brother tom foolery its hard to disagree that he has a section of modern society spot on.

Don't judge this book on it's use of graphic content, the way it tears apart the fabrication that boys are girls are all sweet and innocent because of their upbringings, judge it on a contemporary society that believes in getting ahead, thinking of number one and not giving much thought to consequences, because it's a social treat.

Chad Kultgen deserves every plaudit he receives for this book. Whilst it may not be everyone's cup of tea I truly believe that it's a book of importance and a modern day classic.

The Less Than Average Difficult Second Novel
Kultgen's second novel is a far longer book than his previous one, The Average American Male, but unfortunately not nearly as funny or interesting. The three main characters start off introducing themselves and then we're introduced to the story. One of the guys is rich and arrogant and gets the girls, his mate is shyer, poorer, and falls for the third character, a slutty girl with an eye on marrying a rich bloke and squeezing out kids. The next scene we see the poor sappy guy character chatting to the slutty girl after she'd passed out in his room. He starts to like her, she doesn't care and is more concerned with thinking about the next party, the next lay.

I stopped at that point. I've read this book before - Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons". An American campus novel about promiscuous, stereotyped kids. Maybe if around that time when I was still in uni I'd read this I might've liked it but this time around I couldn't care less. How tedious are the lives of students? Besides it doesn't offer anything different from Wolfe's novel besides being published 5 years later and being 200 pages shorter.

"The Average American Male" wasn't a classic but it was a quick fun read that had a few silly but funny jokes in it. This novel was Kultgen trying too hard. It's not funny and not interesting. Fair enough I gave up after 40 pages but then I didn't spend any money on this, it was book tokens. I could've gotten something better but oh well. I won't be bothering with Chad Kultgen in the future, he seems to be a one trick pony. "The Average American Male" is a good read though and I'd direct new readers to that.