Man vs Life

Very Basic Coping Skills for Very Basic Men

Over 30? Married? Children? Desk job? Unfit? Stressed? Time poor? Jaded? Is this you? If so, here are some random things you might learn from Man vs Life. That whether we like it or not, our function in life is to facilitate family life (often grudgingly, i.e. ‘I’m not a taxi you know’ or ‘you’re only nice to me when you want money’).

That our children tell us we ‘need to take a chill pill’. That we all like pork belly and duck. And we will happily pick something off the floor to eat it if we feel it was only dropped in the last 48 hours.

That love, sex and friendship are all possible at once, but it’s a big ask over a long period of time.

That two days’ sick leave is more believable than one.

Written in the style of a spoof PowerPoint business report, Man vs Life is a humorous look at the psyche of the married man in his 30s and 40s, who works in an office and is overrun by children and financial stress, and gently mocks his domestic situation and the crises he faces on a daily basis.

About the Author

Rob Pegley was a carefree freelance writer in the UK almost two decades ago, and thought he was pretty good at it. His money went on beer, books, CDs (plus the odd cassette), and more beer. Life was fairly one-dimensional, but it was a dimension he was very comfortable with. Then he became a full-time sub-editor on a magazine, then a deputy editor, then an editor – each time he took a step up he could afford more books, more CDs and more beer, but a tiny part of his soul died.

He won an award as the British Society of Magazine Editors Specialist Editor of the Year in the late nineties, and that was enough to swing him a job in Australia. He keeps the award near his desk to let people know that he was once quite talented. These days Rob works in TV and his money is spent on books, iTunes, and three gorgeous, but surprisingly brand-savvy young children.