Why My Wife Should Know Better: Ignorance Really Is Bliss

I have to say right off, Mr. Greenberg definitely gave me my monies worth in this giggle of a read. Is it true that men just cannot keep a secret? Or, do they tell things because they only hear part of what their wife's are saying and somehow the little words, 'but don't say anything.' don't even enter their heads? Perhaps we will never know, but I'll tell you this. I definitely could relate to this story and it was fun hearing it from a man's perspective. I think I may have learned something, and I'll remember it, although I'll probably not tell my husband I did.
This was a really fun read. A truth told in a light-hearted way; a story that men will relate to, and women will finally have a glimpse into the mind of a man. Well done Mr. Greenberg. Very enjoyable!

That was one of my favorite lines in this Amazon Short. What a refreshingly light, warm, and cleverly composed essay this was! Reading and comprehending the husband/wife points here took no effort at all. Greenberg's literary voice of delightfully whiney wit flowed like it was taken from a guy's diary. Yet, this type of easy, conversational style, jazzed with a slight nose bent, does not flow from prose-posing naivete. It might take a writer to realize how much training, exercise, and effort is expended in developing and perfecting a journalist's skill of expression, then to tweak it into voicing one's personality with a not overdone flair, while narrating personal events with easy skiffs of humor slipped into a tightly focused theme, then to finish use of the craft by simultaneously relaxing and involving the reader into one's stylized complaint.

I read this Amazon Short in the late evening, after finishing supper dishes (no dishwasher on this cabin on a rural mesa in Colorado). I was deeply exhausted, yet wanted to accomplish one more bit of "work" prior to calling it a day. I had expected to push through syntax to work a couple sparks into my brain, to comprehend yet more written words. I can honestly say I was overjoyed to begin reading this freely flowing composition and to feel an immediate, pleasant, light lift to my spirits and energy reserves, instead of the continued drain I had anticipated. This is not to say that other reading is exhausting; it isn't ... except when I'm forcing it at the end of a several week effort, extending repeatedly beyond tired, beyond exhausted, beyond cohesion or sanity.

At that point of flat balloon fizzle, I really, really relished an unexpected butter-slide-simplicity of words rolled out by a professional journalist seasoned well enough to write with such natural grace to seem to have no artifice beyond his inner thoughts zipping into a diary made public. I say bravo to a master who has honed his ability to make a point with grumbling humor, and to execute a literary style so honed and natural, it appears not to be style. Don't be fooled.

Or do be.

Either way, this was a welcome diversion which read as easily as breathing, and made me smile to remember how different the psychological gestalts of men and women are, to remember how easy it is to forget those differences, and to think our spouses with whom we've become so intimate in so many ways, are not like our same-sex friends when it comes to communication. Communication grid-locks could be saved if we'd only remember (at least some of the time) that "Men Are From Mars; Women Are From Venus."

This short reminded me of that, in a palatable, easy-to-digest way. Thanks, Mike Greenberg, for allowing me to relax into the syntax of your thoughts etched with light humor and a valuable, possibly vital reminder ("War of The Roses": Don't go there, in reality. Do go there to the movie, book, or Amazon Short series).

Okay Greenberg, you can go back to your basketball game. This time there's nothing to remember except that you're a writer of elevated excellence, and your evaluations of us females are too right on. I was ready to deny that I'm still vain and superficial enough to have even a whiff of concern about how I look in a certain type of clothing, or with my hair one way or another. Ugh. The only hard part about reading this Short was to have to admit that I'm still prey to the insecurities of female hormones. Sigh. And, I tot I had outgrown that!

I'm off to finish the Spenser novel I've been reading. Thanks for the break, Mike! Trust no one who says your words don't get it. They do. They do. They do too well. Welcome to Amazon Shorts. Your offering is absolutely appreciated!

Well done.

Linda Shelnutt
(For a very different but equally relaxing break, get We Work All Our Lives and What Do We Get?: A True Account. Life's more than a jigsaw.)

There is hardly anything original or anything funny in this unless you have been living in an isolated society and have never heard these bland comments (it would be inappropriate to call them jokes) before. It is full of cliches like wife looking fat in pants or asking a non-pregnant woman when she is due.

I know you are thinking it is only half a buck. Go and buy some candy with it and download anything on Youtube or Google video. There is a high chance that that would be funnier-much funnier.

Every husband / father can relate to this, am sure. Like his writing style and want to read more so hope author keeps it coming!