A More Perfect Union: How I Survived the Happiest Day of My Life

Schank, a former fabulously single Manhattanite, plays wedding historian, documentarian, Brooklynite and cynical bride-to-be in this wry take on the wedding industry. While chronicling the planning nightmares, screw-ups and family squabbles leading up to her big day, Schank pontificates on nuptial-planning touchstones, offering little in the way of surprise: Schank, as she makes clear from the outset, is way cooler than other brides, and, by being aware of how uncool it is to do the uncool things everyone else does (like admiring her engagement ring or reading wedding magazines), she's demonstrating how cool she really is. An episode involving the most important purchase of all-the dress-but packs the not so shocking revelation that most women, regardless of their socio-economic status, want to look like fairy tale princesses standing at the altar. The best material here is the wedding trivia she sprinkles in (bridesmaids were originally supposed to confuse evil spirits; the best man helped the groom carry off an unwilling bride after a little village pillaging), but it's not enough to save an otherwise predictable and not always funny memoir.