Artist: Shusha
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Persian Love Songs and Mysti..
Year:
Tracks: 16
"How to Be Single" (Atria Books)
By Liz Tuccillo
As women line up to see "Sex and the City" on the big screen, one of the HBO series' writers is debuting her novel about - what else? - dating and the single woman.
Aside from her career in television, Liz Tuccillo is best known for co-writing the bestseller "He's Just Not That Into You" with Greg Behrendt. That tough-love dating manual urged women to stop sitting by the phone and forget about the men who aren't pursuing them. "He might be lying in the hospital with amnesia, but more likely, he's just not that into you," is one sample bit of truth-telling.
Unfortunately, the women in Tuccillo's new novel do not seem to have read that book. Let's start from the beginning: our story is narrated by Julie Jensen, a 38-year-old New Yorker who is fed up with endless nights on the town in search of Mr. Right.
After a disastrous girls' night out that ends with a bar fight and a trip to the emergency room, Julie embarks on a trip to find out if women in other countries know the secret to being happily single.
So Julie learns about one-night-stands in Rio de Janeiro, gigolos in Bali, a man-drought in Sydney and open marriages in Paris. At the same time, she deals with her own relationship troubles as she becomes increasingly involved with a married man.
Meanwhile, Julie's four single friends are having their own problems with love back in New York. Georgia, a newly separated mother of two, dives back into the dating pool only to find that it's filled with sharks. Alice decides to settle down, but then begins to wonder if she is merely just settling. Ruby, tortured by her biological clock, wonders if she can handle single motherhood. Finally, Serena has an unlikely affair with a swami that makes her rethink her spirituality and her priorities.
With all those characters and their various crises, the book starts to feel a little crowded - like all six seasons of "Sex and the City" mashed up with "Eat, Pray, Love." As a result, Julie's New York friends don't quite develop into the fully fleshed-out characters they could be. Surprisingly, Serena, the most eccentric character of the four, becomes the most relatable as she struggles with the death of her employer.
Tuccillo writes in the ultra-casual tone of an e-mail to a friend, but doesn't flinch from the bleaker moments her characters experience. In fact, "How to Be Single" at times feels a little too bleak. As the women fret about their prospects, readers may be tempted to offer them some of the tough advice doled out in "He's Just Not That Into You."
"Back home, the statistics are telling us that it's very hard to find a good man, and that it's only going to get harder," Julie says to a Parisian companion. "It feels a little bit like a crisis."
That may be so, but a book about dating might benefit from a bit more fun and a little less crisis-management.
The Daily Mail has responded to yesterday's protests by My Chemical Romance fans against the paper's coverage of emo.
Following the suicide of Hannah Bond, a fan of the band -- whose hits include
Welcome to the Black Parade and Famous Last Words -- and comments from the coroner at her inquest about the genre's influence in her death, the British newspaper have published several articles about emo including one which claimed that "no child is safe from the sinister cult of emo".
However, the paper yesterday issued a statement insisting their coverage has been restrained, balanced and is in the public interest.
The statement says, "The Daily Mail�s coverage of the 'Emo' movement has been balanced, restrained and above all, in the public interest. Genuine concerns were raised at the inquest earlier this month on 13 year old emo follower Hannah Bond who had been self-harming and then tragically killed herself.
"In common with other newspapers we ran an accurate news story recording the Coroner's remarks and the parents' comments. We also published two other articles, one of which explained the background to the Hannah tragedy in calm and un-sensational language.
"The other was a first person opinion piece by a well-known writer, written from the perspective of a mother concerned for her children. We have also run two prominent page lead letters from an emo music fan and from a fan of My Chemical Romance defending their point of view.
"Our music critic admires the music of the band and publicized the band�s UK tour last year. Since this protest was announced a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the internet, much of which confuses what the Daily Mail has actually published with the comments of website readers and 'blogs' over which we have no control and which have stirred up emotions."
They added, "We note it has been pointed out by others that all this provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance's latest album.
"The Daily Mail is a broad church and is always ready to listen to the views of readers. We do, however, suggest those who want to protest or comment read everything we have published and act on fact not rumor."
"I'm not thinking about my birthday? Why's everyone rushing me over the finish line? I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat for dinner tonight. That's my future plan." MADONNA refuses to be drawn into talking about her upcoming 50th birthday plans in August (08).
Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson are set to resume work on the new Bond theme tune after the pair buried the hatchet.
The music making pair, who earlier this month came to blows while trying to record their 007 tune, kissed and made up at the Ivor Novello Awards Thursday. And contrary to some reports, Amy, 24, has already penned the lyrics.
She says,: “I’ve written the song. If they like it they like it, if they don’t they don’t.”
Mark added, “If I talk about it Daniel Craig will whack me in the eyes.