Product Description

Shy and cosseted, I developed a wide-eyed attraction to anything exciting or damaged. I idolozed women with those qualities but was ill-equipped to deal with them. I didn't even butter my own toast until I left home for college. No wonder, I became a magnet for women who threw toast. And a magnet he was: to every neck-snappingly beautiful nutcase in sight. The story begins with Elizabeth, his ex-wife and the woman who wore Kabuki-style white make up. Martin never saw her without it...and she kept all her hair trimmings in a suitcase under the bed. Eventually, she leaves him for his 29th birthday sends him a copy of "American Psycho" with a note: "I hope this doesn't happen to you". The result is a descent into a rakish experience of sexual manoeuvring. Brilliantly written, with an easy, self-deprecatory charm, we see Martin work his way through various madwomen until salvation: Ilene, who totally has his number...and makes him a better man again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1905307 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the mildly entertaining memoir Cad: Confessions of a Toxic Bachelor, former New York Times reporter and pop-culture critic Rick Marin chronicles the years of marathon dating and shallow living that followed in the wake of his failed "starter marriage." Marin moves through a series of urbane exploits and short-lived affairs, perfecting his trademark move of whipping off his horn-rim glasses mid-conversation in a "myopic gaze," holding court with his wingman Tad over the hot buffet at Billy's Topless, and regurgitating wisdom gleaned from The Godfather. Like the similarly self-indulgent How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Cad has its memorable moments--Marin comparing his wedding video to the Zapruder film and hitting on actress Moira Kelly when she was still an ingénue living with her mother on Long Island--but the book's swinging, ring-a-ding-ding Rat Pack attitude feels noticeably forced and uninspired, leaving a flat aftertaste to the whole affair. --Brad Thomas Parsons, Amazon.com

Evening Standard
"A very good, intelligent and funny book."

Uncut
"This is one of the funniest books of the year."

Customer Reviews

Toxic – Yes, Indeed it is
I would never have found this book except for a little fate. I had just met a guy who I could not understand. We had been in touch for several weeks and I still could not figure out what was going on, we appeared to be floating in the abyss. Then, one day I was stuck in traffic and I had the opportunity to listen to a radio interview with Rick Marin talking about his book ‘CAD: confessions of a toxic bachelor’. Immediately, I thought ………could my ‘new acquaintance’ possibly be one of these ……what did Marin call them…………..a CAD? Never!

I bought the book within days of that interview and read the book in one sitting. From a female perspective, Marin’s account of his relationships (and I use that word very loosely) is addictive. This book has been called ‘Sex in the City’ from a male perspective but it is not. It is more gripping than that because Marin has managed to capture sheer reality through what seems to be honest writing and a simple down to earth account of his life. Reading the pages, you can see yourself or your friends at the opposite end of the CAD in operation. The beauty of this book is that Marin gives an open account of what the CAD is thinking while in operation – this makes the book simply hilarious. If Marin added in fireworks or exaggerations to try and make situations more entertaining, he would loose the secret ingredient of this book. This book is not a Hollywood adventure or an in-depth psychological analysis of the male/female inter-action. It is a fly on the wall look at ‘boy meets girl’ life as we see it everyday. I laughed out loud several times and also shrieked in horror.

This book is indeed toxic. Some men will be astounded that their thinking is out there so openly, in print. I would say that once you know what you are dealing with, the CAD is fun.

HOWEVER, do not approach the CAD without the user manual……….keep a copy of this book in your handbag……….if you want to be really prepared for the CAD, combine the wisdom in this book with ‘The Rules’. Mr Marin, you need to publish your book in a size and style that will fit comfortably into a lady’s handbag and our busy lives – perhaps the ‘little book of CAD’ for us girls who have read your book once, enjoyed the detail that makes it a normal experience but now just want a reminder of the key CAD facts.

Perhaps not toxic enough!
I bought this after seeing it seemingly being sold as "Sex and the City" from a male point of view. Being firstly a fan of the series and secondly, male, I felt it promised a lot. A mix of cynicism, New York stories and sex, how could it fail?

Well, it doesn't, but I did come away with a slight twinge of disappointment. The sense of honesty as to his shallowness in approaching relationships is refreshing, but once he comes clean with some of the thoughts and motivations about the fairer sex probably all guys hold but do not admit to, you're left with a story that drags a touch towards the end, especially as you know that there's only going to be one happy ending. (Bloke "loves" and leaves a succession of ladies, it can only end up with him deciding on one and "settling down", can't it?)

As one date inevitably follows another, it gets increasingly hard to keep track of who all the various women are, mainly because their characters are not sufficiently well developed. Thankfully, I don't think it was the author's intention to do this in order to reduce those involved to mere notches on the bedpost, as there is warmth with the cynicism, and he admits his obvious emotional failings, it's just that he just doesn't descibe many of the characters well enough to get you interested in who's in or out of the picture. In saying that, bits of it are genuinely amusing although the passages describing his family (especially his father), while conveying warmth, do sit a little uneasily against the his Lotharian adventures in NY.

Maybe Marin was too truthful about several actually quite uninteresting people, and should have jazzed up and exaggerated their characters a bit more, or maybe he did make the people involved quirkier, in which case I'd say, next time, REALLY do a job on them. It will make a less honest but more entertaining book.

RIDE THE RIFF TRAIN !
its somewhat hard to believe that the author who bears more than a passing resemblance to Milhouse from the simpsons got some much lady action but this is an incredibly funny book .

YES HE IS A HEINOUS CAD BUT ITS VERY FUNNY