Posted on: February 28, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

An anthology about relationships written by guys sounds about as appealing as…well talking about relationships with guys. But thanks to a stellar list of authors – heavy on comedians like Jon Stewart, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Colbert and Will Forte – and the comedy-prone topic of getting dumped, makes the task that much more compelling. The essays are offered as lessons of sorts, far from practical, but extremely funny nonetheless.

Among the best is David Wain’s (co-creator of The State) “Persistence is for Suckers” and Oswalt’s almost self-explanatory “Dating a Stripper is a Recipe for Perspective”. A few of the pieces stand out as a bit weaker (like Bob Odenkirk’s relationship seminar bit that loses steam about a paragraph in and Bruce Jay Friedman’s short story “She Wasn’t the One,” which feels completely out of place in this collection). They’re just a couple of minor distractions to an otherwise solidly humorous collection. Edited by former Onion editor/Daily Show producer Ben Karlin, the anthology is a lot more fun than any book on relationships deserves to be.

Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me / 2009 Grand Central Publishing / 240 Pages / http://www.womenwhodumpedme.com/

Leave a Comment