The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays [Hardcover]

Cindy Chupack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2003

The Between Boyfriends Book is an honest, hilarious look at the world of dating--and not dating--that will have fans rushing back for multiple copies to press on the psychic wounds of their afflicted friends. Chupack not only puts voice to the cheerful brutality that shapes young women's love lives, but creates bonus coinages to describe instantly recognizable dating tropes, such as:
* "sexual sorbet": the first person you sleep with after a breakup to remove the taste of a bad relationship
* "lone rangered": to have had a relationship end with no goodbye, no answers, just the vague feelings you have no idea who that man was
* "premature 'we'jaculation": a common dating dysfunction where one member of the couple starts using "we" before the other is ready.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

" I laughed out loud and recognized myself and a million people I know...honest, un-self pitying and hilariously rich with detail."
-Betsy Carter, Author of Nothing to Fall Back On: The Life and Times of a Perpetual Optimist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312309031
• ISBN-13: 978-0312309039
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantasmic, August 24, 2003

By 

Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays (Hardcover)

I can say the love word... I need my SPACE (to read this), and I Love (the book). Chupack, a writer for the Sex and The City television series has written this collection of essays on the pangs of dating and the single life. She gives such great advice, that even her ex-husband comes to her for advice on his current relationships. She makes up words; a few are: "lone rangered" (who was that masked man who broke up with me no goodbye); "RelocationShips" (moving for the chance of a good guy); "Man-me-downs"; Halloweenies (guys who break up at Halloween, so they don't have to date you during Thanksgiving and the December holidays); and "premature 'we'jaculation" (when one of you says "we" before the other is ready). She writes about when a major magazine asked her to write about how to juggle men, when she wasn't even juggling one. She asks, if you count the number of men you have been with, do you have to count the men from drunken frat college parties? There is the story about the guy who had his doorman break up with her; there is the story of the guy who broke up with a woman on the account of her nose; and the story of each of her 17 awful dates that she went on (3 per week) in order to have one good 18th date. She decided to ask her dates to bring a CD to trade, so at least if it is a bad date, you might get a bonus of a good CD. When her date brought her ABBA, she dropped him and that idea fast. Cindy tells about her 10 day fast in order to lose weight, well not really to lose weight, but well, who knows why she went on it. You have to read it as if the character of Carrie from "Sex And The City" is reading it to you. It is much funnier that way. Nearly each story is less than 4 pages, so it is great for subway reading, or the beach (where the red flags are about swimming, not dating). In addition to the stories and dating advice, we learn about fathers' obsessions with asking daughters, "How's the car?"; the frustration of (NOT) being chosen to be a bridesmaid; the skillful spins of agents; and the idea for karaoke-like bars that women can go to do open mike rants after their bad dates.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical, July 1, 2005

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays (Hardcover)

OK, this is the type of book that makes you believe that you are not alone out there.

I am currently "in between boyfriends" myself and am feeling kind of down.

I picked up this book and by the 10th page was laughing right out loud in the New York Subway. People were starring at me (yes, in NY City). I had tears in my eyes - this book is do dead on.

I loved everything about it. The writing, the humour (so great) and everything else.

BUY THIS ONE>>>>>>>

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HILARIOUS!!!!, September 20, 2003

By 

Book Lover (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays (Hardcover)

I'm a happily married mother of two but I remember dating and this book rang totally true. It was so funny I was laughing out loud -- something rare, and somewhat embarassing in public. I can't imagine why the reviewer below said "it wasn't helpful" to her -- it's not supposed to be "helpful". It's not a self-help book or guide. It's just a series of astonishingly funny and clever essays. If you bought Candance Bushnell's SEX IN THE CITY hoping it would have the tone of the show, and were disappointed, THIS is the book for you. I'm guessing Cindy Chupack is the one who writes all those clever puns and sticky situations for the show. HIGHLY recommended!