Right now, I personally am no where near divorce. I'm not even married (until my best friend starts begging me for a green card), but, as a member of the Children of Divorce generation — and one of the few with parents still married . . . to each other — I have an interesting perspective on this topic. Two of my uncles have ended long marriages involving children (as well as basically all of my friends' fathers), making them the target market for A Man's Guide by Sam Margulies, Ph.D., J.D., so I've seen the effects of divorce on families and children from as close up as possible without becoming permanently scarred.

As much as I'm inclined to distrust a self-help book by an author with commas after his name, Margulies has created a smart, funny, socially conscious guide to making it through one of the most difficult experiences in life. Socially conscious? As Margulies puts it in his introduction:

"Men often lack a model for getting divorced without a useless war. Most divorce books for men are written by divorce lawyers and contain advice on 'how to screw your wife one last time.' they feed the worst impulses of divorcing men and help turn the divorce into a battle."

Margulies's healthy (not self-hating nor vengeful) outlook carries through the book, promoting a sadly rare image of divorce as a potentially win-win situation. His book is one I wish more men (and even women) I know would have read, and one I suggest to any man with children who may be considering divorce. Makes a great wedding gift.