How to Make Love to a Plastic Cup: A Guy's Guide to the World of Infertility

Although infertility is no laughing matter for most couples, screenwriter Wolfe, writing from personal experience, turns it into a one-night standup act in which words such as "follicular" and "luteal" become punch lines to wink-and-nudge stories. With chapter titles such as "It's not over till it's ova," "sperm-a-lot," and ""what a prick!" Wolfe tries to lead men through the maze of medical terminology and procedures designed to overcome infertility. For example, he provides step-by-step instructions on how to inject your wife with fertility drugs, and he offers advice ("prepare to chafe, badly"; "you don't have to fill the whole cup"; how to deposit one's sperm in an IVF clinic). Wolfe's need to make a joke out of every little step along the way grows quickly tiresome and precious and regrettably ends up making too much light of a serious issue. (Sept.)