[.ca] From Courtship to Courtroom: What Divorce Law is Doing ... (ISBN 0819706922)

A Must Read for Every Male:
This isn't a 5-star book - it's a 6-star one. Abraham presents the reality of how the legal and judicial systems art stacked against men. Anyone saying otherwise is either ignoring the facts or... a woman. His book is short, to the point and does not contain footnotes. I do wish he had named names for both the good and the evil. For instance, although Abraham describes her study, he never mentions Dr. Lenore Weitzman, the Harvard professor whose highly flawed study and follow-on book, "The Divorce Revolution," created much of this mess. He did the same when reporting how Weitzman's study was flawed and how bureaucrats, politicians, judges and the press responded - something covered in depth by Dr. Sanford Braver's book, "Divorced Dads." There is a selected bibliography with many of these listed. Abraham occasionally slips into sarcasm, so if you're not careful, you may think he believes something when he's really mocking it. The one area where I completely disagree with Abraham when he speaks of how mothers discipline their children and fathers don't want to. Dr. Warren Farrell's book, "Father and Child Reunion," explains why single-mothers are afraid to discipline the children they have custody of (I refuse to say "their children" since these children are not theirs). Perhaps Abraham was being sarcastic and I missed it or maybe he believes that since mothers are responsible for 90% of all child abuse, this means they are disciplining the children. He pegs men's beliefs to a tee. "My case is different." "This woman is nicer." He let's men know what needs to be done (changing the laws) and how to start doing this. This book is mandatory reading for every male, especially High School and college men. John Smith Alliance for Non-Custodial Parents' Rights ancpr.org

Read this and learn:
Whilst Abraham has a fairly adversarial tone and presentation it is not unsurprising for a lawyer involved in the "war-zone" that divorce tends to become. Make no mistake, Abraham pulls no punches and wrings a certain amount of emotion from his writing. You may not find this emotionally pleasant reading, especially if you are married and start thinking "What if". However, even if you are married and think life is pefect, buy a copy and have it mailed to work. If you are single, buy it. Whoever you are, buy another copy for a single male friend too. You too can save a life before it's too late.

Every man's guide to marriage:
The institution of marriage has changed so much in the past century that it's almost unrecognizable other than by name. What once lasted a lifetime now comes and goes so fast that few men are lucky enough to raise their children. Long before most children grow up the average American wife files for divorce, takes the house, the car, the bank account, the kids, and leaves the man in a state of indentured servitude not unlike a form of slavery. Author Jed Abraham provides a divorce lawyer's perspective on what happens to today's man after he marries and starts a family. Some practical advice, other than not marrying under today's sham laws, includes guidance for pre-nuptial agreements and other precautions for the man who must marry. A large flaw is that he, being a lawyer, absolves lawyers and judges from blame. Jed blames "the law," not those who practice the law. I find that to be morally ridiculous, because its divorce lawyers and judges who use the law to destroy so many million men and children. A great portion of blame rests right at their doorstep. Left out too are other courtroom disasters that now plague men such as the radical new crime called "spousal rape," MANdatory arrest laws for frequently fictitious domestic violence complaints even when the man complained about the woman's violence, and the persecution of men for phony child abuse complaints. Jed does offer suggested changes in divorce law that would greatly help young men. The future is really grim if something isn?t done, and done soon. It's a must read for every man thinking about marriage. It's a must read for every women wondering why men "won't commit." It's a must read for every elected state representative and Congressman. As Jed says, "We're all in this together."

Don't buy it:
This book does not do what the title says. I was thinking the book would be an analysis of the state of the law regarding divorce. Rather, it was poorly documented and had a hostile tone. Instead of making recommendations on how we can better change the divorce laws, it presented a victim mentality.

A very scarey book:
I think it would be arguable in a court of law that if an American man reads this book and gets married and has kids anyway, he has demonstrated his mental incompetence. A married man has a 50% chance of getting divorced (usually initiated by his wife) and when that happens, this book makes it plain how he will be stripped of his children, his dignity, and most of his assets and income. A divorced man can even be forced to pay for his noncustodial children's college educations when they are over 18 years of age, when married men have no such legal obligation to their adult children. If you're male, and living in the USA, and thinking about getting married some day, you absolutely must read this book. It will cost you only about 3 1/2 minutes worth of a divorce lawyer's hourly fee.