The Lad Lit Blog Tour has been going strong for three weeks now, and I think it is fair to say I’ve managed to convert a good few people on both sides of the Atlantic to dip their toe in the lad lit pond, and the ripple effect of laughter has helped convince a few more along the way!
Still, the questions keep coming in from those who have not really heard of the genre before. What is lad lit? Will I enjoy it? To help answer those questions, I have put together a top five list of things that will make you want to choose lad lit as your next read.
1. Lad Lit is not perfect
Never has the average Joe been made to feel so image conscious. We live in a society where men are constantly told how we should strive to look like David Beckham, whether it’s on the pages on glossy magazines or TV adverts ramming it down our throats. But never fear, lad lit is here! Lad lit speaks the truth – it lives in the real world, not that plastic fantasy land where families like The Kardashians live. It paints the picture of what it’s like to really like to be a man, embracing all of our insecurities and imperfections. So screw you David Beckham and your good looks!
2. It brings balance to the world created by chick lit
This is not a dig at chick lit, far from it. But chick lit has a habit of creating wonderful mirages of how a man should act in a relationship, when the reality is that 9 times out of 10, men are hopeless at romance rather than hopeless romantics. But that’s okay, we are who we are, and lad lit paints that picture. My favourite analogy when comparing chick lit with lad lit is that if book genres were diets, then lad lit would be the rather dishevelled ‘before’ picture and chick lit would be the happy ever after ‘after’ image.
3. You will laugh. Lots.
I did stand-up comedy for a year back in 2011, and the one thing I learned is that people laugh the most at the stuff they can relate to. Lad lit is that awful first date you went on years ago that you still laugh about with your mates down the pub. I find that most lad lit is based on real life experiences of the author and/or his friends, so chances are you will read more than one story in a lad lit book and think: “Oh my God, I remember doing that!”
4. You’ve seen the films, now read the book!
Lad lit comes in many forms, so whether you are a fan of comedy movies like American Pie or charming coming-of-age tales like Stand By Me, chances are you’ll be a huge fan of lad lit. My very own debut novel The Drought has been compared to hit British TV series (and now two films) The Inbetweeners. These films are successful because at the heart of all the fun and charm, this is what men are really like, which is why we love them so much.
5. You are probably a fan of lad lit without even knowing it
Just because the term ‘lad lit’ is not very well-known, the authors who write within the genre are. Think of Nick Hornby (High Fidelity), Jonathan Tropper (This is Where I Leave You), Tony Parsons (Man and Boy), or Mike Gayle (My Legendary Girlfriend). There is a fairly comprehensive list of lad lit authors you have probably at least heard of before, if not already read one of their books. Check any of these guys out on Amazon or Goodreads and you will see a large number of 4 and 5 star reviews. If you don’t want to take my word for it, then trust the reading community at large. Steven Scaffardi is the author of the Sex, Love and Dating Disaster series. His first novel, The Drought, is the laugh-out-loud tale of one man’s quest to overcome the throes of a sexual drought. After the stormy break-up with his girlfriend of three years, Dan Hilles is faced with the daunting task of throwing himself back into the life of a single man. With the help of his three best pals, Dan is desperate and determined to get his leg-over with hilarious consequences!
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