cover image The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays

The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays

Cindy Chupack. St. Martin's Press, $19.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-312-30903-9

Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Chupack (Sex and the City; Everybody Loves Raymond) gathers columns that appeared in Glamour and other magazines in this funny and occasionally poignant first book. Reading Chupack's meditations on such modern mysteries as dating, therapy and male behavior, fans of Sex and the City may hear echoes of Carrie Bradshaw's wry voice. Standout chapters include""The Breakup,"" in which men dump their girlfriends through a proxy (""a doorman informed me that my date was not coming down. Ever"") or simple desertion (""They'll say they're going to the rest room and never return. Then they'll meet friends for drinks and say,...""What do I have to do, spell it out for her?"" ). In""Seventeen Dates,"" Chupack endures that many terrible dates (""Date #13 was a plastic surgeon ...who asked if I was 'swimsuit ready'), positing that she must go through that many stinkers after a break-up before she meets an eligible guy. She learns a painful lesson:""there are no shortcuts, because it's not only time and distance you need after you lose a love, it's reflection."" The book is padded with magazine-style pieces that stray far afield of the single women and relationships theme: there's a chapter on adjusting to L.A. after growing up in Oklahoma and one on father/daughter communication. Enough of Chupack's material, though, is clever and original enough to make this a good beach book, and the cover reminds readers that""if you read it in public, men will know you're available.""