cover image Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness

. Seal Press (CA), $14.95 (277pp) ISBN 978-1-58005-202-3

Most popular media portrayals depict single women in one of two states: single-and-loving-it or single-and-desperate. Single women strike back in this compilation of essays, edited by author and freelance writer Mapes (How to Date in a Post-Dating World), in which they discuss with candor and courage their own experiences outside of the domestic partnership paradigm. Unfortunately, for every poignant, well-written highlight-such as Chelsea Handler's ""Thunder,"" Sasha Cagen's ""How I Dodged a Reality Show Bullet"" and Kay Trimberger's ""Can a Single Woman Really Be Happy Without a Soulmate?""-there are two or three pieces that grate, either through self-indulgence or sheer volume. In one particularly edit-worthy tale, a sex-columnist debates the merits of her single life versus her married life in a manner not unlike a rambling ""confessional"" on braindead reality series The Real World: unstoppable and irrelevant. The myriad states of singularity-secure-in-your-fluxing, single-for-life, widower, etc.-that the book brings to light are interesting but, in these essays, fail to intrigue; overall, the collection reads more like excerpts from a support group meeting than a collection of professional work.