Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me

Twenty-four notable writers and comedians, like Stephen Colbert, Neal Pollack, Dan Savage, Todd Hanson and Andy Richter, comment on the mysteries and intricacies of relationships. The essays are funny, crude, often hilarious, and occasionally unexpectedly moving, ruminations on the male/female conundrum. Some stories are of straightforward rejection (like Will Forte's “Beware of Math Tutors Who Ride Motorcycles”) while others take a different bent. Larry Whitmore's “Women Are Never Too Young to Mess with Your Head” charts his efforts to win his newborn daughter's love as she screams and cries whenever he holds her. David Wain and Zandy Hartig enact a laugh-out-loud series of phone vignettes in “Persistence Is for Suckers” that follows Wain's frustrating attempts, over several months, to secure a date with a woman he met at a party. Like any collection, not every piece is on target, but the majority of the stories hit the humor bull's-eye. Simultaneous release with the Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 10). (Mar.)