No Cheating, No Dying

About two years ago, Elizabeth Weil published this article in the New York Times Magazine, about her research on marriage and the results of her (and her husband's) rather fascinating experiment to better their marriage.  The first paragraph made me laugh out loud and is enough to make me want to read more:

"I have a pretty good marriage. It could be better. There are things about my husband that drive me crazy. Last spring he cut apart a frozen pig’s head with his compound miter saw in our basement. He needed the head to fit into a pot so that he could make pork stock. I’m no saint of a spouse, either. I hate French kissing, compulsively disagree and fake sleep when Dan vomits in the middle of the night. Dan also once threatened to punch my brother at a family reunion at a lodge in Maine. But in general we do O.K."

Her book based on the article comes out today, and looks rather amusing and heavy at the same time. 

You can read the first chapter of the book here.  The premise is that we're willing to work hard to be good at lots of things, so why not work at being good at marriage?  I know I tend to take the people I love the most for granted.  Who hasn't snapped at someone they love, knowing that he or she will still like you later just the same? 


Image via here

 In general, I'm afraid of self-help books, but this one looks pretty interesting.  (Maybe that's why I didn't like The Happiness Project on my first go-round!  Side note: I'm on the "Marriage" chapter right now -- is the universe trying to send me a sign here?)  How about you?  Would you read a self-help book?  Have you read any that have actually helped you, or do you tend to get bored like I do and eschew books like this in favor of something of the Twilight/Hunger Games ilk?