In retrospect, Greg always came off as that guy who tries way too hard to be cool and has a serious aversion to honestly presenting themselves and accepting who they really are. (To be fair, a lot of kids go through this during middle and high school, which is why I can understand how he relates to the book's primary audience: kids.) Sometimes Greg can have a point about how dumb some aspects of parenting or growing up with siblings can be (especially in the case of how his parents "raise" that spoiled brat Manny), but he more often than not comes across as an insincere d-bag, which doesn't fly with me. Haven't read any of the books since Dog Days or Ugly Truth, though.
