From Matthew Inman (a.k.a. The Oatmeal), the great mind behind classics such as How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You and Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants, comes another book that will surely become a new favourite of many readers.

It was both hilarious and rather disturbing (there are some positions in which I never thought I'd see a middle-aged man in), at the same time. This little collection of comics is perfect for killing a couple of minutes (because that's literally how long it takes to read it), but I'm also sure that I will be coming back to it some time or another. Amusing in a simplistic way, but also showing the author's great imagination.

If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle-Aged Men from Matthew Inman is a short humorous collection os comics reimagining dog behavior as if from, you guessed it, middle-aged men. You are likely familiar with Inman as The Oatmeal and if you like his other stuff you'll like this.

I found some laugh out loud funny and some a bit more like a groan, but such is the nature of a collection. I do not think this is his best work, which really is just another way of saying this was less appealing to my sense of humor than a lot of his other work.

I do think this would be a wonderful gift for dog owners, particularly dog owners who have multiple dogs and who believes, as he states in his dedication, his "two idiot dogs, without whom [he] would probably be exactly where [he is] now, if not further." Maybe reading that dedication is what made me resistant to the humor, I can't imagine even saying that in jest, but then my dogs mean the world to me.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

This was hilarious! I've seen The Oatmeal's comics floating around on the internet but I've never actually read more than a few panels in passing. I wanted to read this because it sounded funny and because it's about dogs - dogs are my life so it seemed like a real no-brainer. Turns out this book is genius! I am a dog owner so I could relate to most of this book. You don't realise how weird dogs are until you imagine them as middle-aged men!

This is laugh-out-loud funny and I just want to say that I died laughing at the SLORP panels because I've been in Matthew's position SO MANY TIMES. I wish it was a little longer because I didn't want it to end. The idea might seem simple, and it is, but it is brilliant. I would definitely recommend this to others and I would read more by The Oatmeal.

*I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic addition to the Oatmeal collection. Imagining what the world would be like if people acted like dogs is executed in a hilarious way.

This book is hilarious, definitely one of the Oatmeal’s best. Whether or not you love dogs, this book will have you laughing. Like all of the Oatmeal’s comics, the humor comes both from the drawings and the truth inherent in the situations. If you have dogs, I can guarantee they’ve behaved like the two middle aged men on more than one occasion (eg. pooping while keeping in eye contact with the nearest human & barking like there is an ax murderer at the door only to shower love on the visitor when you open the door). Come to think of it, your pets have probably done everything covered by If My Dogs Were Two Middle Aged Men. I can easily imagine my dogs saying the same things (thank goodness they can’t talk in real life). I already know I will be giving copies of If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle Aged Men to several of my dog-loving and one of my dog-less friends.


I highly recommend If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle Aged Men.


5 / 5


I received a copy of If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle Aged Men from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


--Crittermom

For some reason, it really fits to have dogs portrayed as middle-aged men.

<i>I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I've read several things by 'The Oatmeal', though only one previous book. Most of what I've read I've spotted here or there posted by others in threads on the internet, or in his own twiter feed, and occasionally on The Oatmeal's own website. I've generally tended to find the material to be humorous so when I spotted one of his books pop up on Netgalley, I . . . after a certain amount of time, jumped on it (the hesitation was based on the book being 'just' 36 pages).

So, let's open it up and see if it's any good, eh? The other book I've read by him involved cats plotting to kill you, so it seems fitting for the next book I read by him to be about dogs. Specifically, as the title indicates, comics arranged around the concept of what humor might be found by imagining the author's dogs (author of the book, not author of this review) as middle aged men.

Right, okay now I'll open the book. Or I well when I figure out where I lost the thing. Tabs everywhere, but where art thou book? Found it.

Well so far I've snorted when I saw two men bouncing around acting like dogs, specifically when they sat on the same sofa as another man and licked him. I assume this other man is supposed to actually be human, though it is hard to tell if you make both humans and dogs look like humans. Maybe 'The Oatmeal' should have made the humans look like dogs so it'd be easier to tell them apart?

And now I'm ill. Barfing isn't something I like to see. By anyone or anything. A barfing catepillar would be horrible to watch. A dog that looks like a human who eats too much too quickly and then barfs? Yeah, I'm ill now. Thanks.

Hmm. Then the barfing comic is followed up by watching the middle aged man be coached to stare at another man like shape and stare at them in the eye. Then poop. Yes, the author should have made the humans be dogs or something. I just assume that the boy scout is supposed to be human, but . . . the dogs are human so . . . is the boy scout also a dog? A human? A dog-human?

Oh. Well. Then one of the 'dogs' accidentally goes missing and a 'lost' poster is put up. Noting that a middle-aged man has gone missing. So . . it's not just the readers who see these middle-aged men as middle-aged men. Everyone does. So . . this is creepier than I thought it was. Because these are not dogs who the reader sees as middle aged men. These are actually middle-aged men <i>acting</i> like dogs. As I said, creepy.

Hmm. Then the book is completed. As I noted somehwere along the way, this is only 36 pages in length (though I think the last page was actually not as far as 36 pages in).

So, to recap, I snorted (once), was made ill, felt creeped out, then came to the realization that the middle-aged men were in fact middle-aged men acting like dogs. Not actually dogs that the reader is suppsoed to see as middle aged men. So felt even more creeped out.

Sadly I did not find this humorous.

June 28 2017

Loved it!

I remember my best friend talking about The Oatmeal back in high school or maybe college. I didn’t like him. His drawings creeped me out. Oh have I grown since then! If My Dogs Were a Couple of Middle-Aged Men reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbycvPwr1Wg&t=17s&index=6&list=LLuH1nf5lHJ0mK5dXpxCdM4g but while Cat-Friend, Dog-Friend feels somehow clean, even as Dog-Friend goes to eat Cat-Friend’s vomit, If My Dogs is hilariously disgusting: rolling in muck, panicking when the doorbell rings, eating too fast, sleeping with their butts in their caregiver’s face, making prolonged eye contact while pooing, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

You definitely have to a have a particular sense of humour to enjoy The Oatmeal’s off-beat comics. Not everyone is going to appreciate the idea of two old men behaving like dogs in the most loving and (often) most disgusting sense.

The Oatmeal is always funny. I was a little disappointed that there didn't see to be any new content but re-reading the older stuff is still a laugh.

I wanted to read this book because it's by the Oatmeal. I didn't love it, but since I'm not overly fond of dogs I guess I'm not the target audience. It did bring a smile on my face though. Would recommend to dog lovers.

Two things: First, it's from The Oatmeal's Matt Inman so it's not possible that it won't be funny (no matter what my cats say). Second, any frequent reader of The Oatmeal has seen these. Nevertheless, many a dog owner will enjoy them and this is the perfect book for a cat lover to give a dog lover to help them reassess. 😉

This book is cute for dog owners. It portrays exactly what it's like to have a couple of dogs if they happen to be human. Extremely quick read (10 minutes max).

I am so glad that I got a review copy of "If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle-Aged Men", I thought it was really funny and it did make me laugh out loud - brilliant way to pass a hour!! Definitely 5 stars from me!

I can’t tell you anything more concerning what this book is about that isn’t already in the title; I do love it when it’s so on point.
Some of these jokes hit a little too close to home, some are kinda gross, but mostly it’s just taking usual dog behaviors and ramping them up to hilarious heights through rudimentary artwork that somehow makes it even funnier. The pooping and bathtime scenarios go into “I can’t believe he went there but I’m laughing so hard” range.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

This book definitely had me at the dedication. "This book is dedicated to my two idiot dogs, without whom I would probably be exactly where I am now, if not further." It is such a perfect summation of what dog ownership feels like! I was laughing the whole way through, easily imagining my own idiot dogs in these scenarios. I can't wait until this comes out, I look forward to sharing it with other dog owners!

I am a bit fan of The Oatmeal, I own a copy of How to Tell if Your Cat is Trying to Kill You and regularly check the website. This short collection just didn't work for me. There is only one joke and it's not especially funny. Perhaps it's because I'm a cat person! My main issue is that this isn't very commercial. A longer, broader comic collection about dogs from the Oatmeal would be a far more exciting prospect.

The book is the story of the author’s two dogs pictured as two middle age men. It doesn’t sound funny but it is totally hilarious! I’m sure the people at work were wondering why I was first giggling and then laughing out loud at some of the cartoons.

As a servant of two cats, I enjoyed The Oatmeal’s earlier book, How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You. However, as an owner of two dogs, I loved this one even more. Who hasn’t wondered why dogs circle “thrice” before doing their business? Or why dogs chase cars but run from toddlers? After reading this book, it feels weirdly normal now to see dogs portrayed by middle-age men. I’m going to picture my two-year-old female Chihuahua, Janet, as a middle-aged woman from now on. Hopefully, that will explain some of her unexplicable behavior.

5 stars.

This book is delightful in appearance and charming in story.

Like all things from "The Oatmeal", absolutely hilarious.