Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater [Paperback]

Amy DeZellar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2006

Dating today can seem like Alice's tumble down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Whether starting out or starting again, women face the difficult task of sorting through the good (guy), the bad (boy) and the ugly (morning after) in their search for Mr. Right. Here,giving hope to smart single women everywhere is Amy DeZellar, who bravely dedicated two years of her life to debunking common dating myths and documenting 50 of her dates. She's gone wine-tasting with Indentured Cats, a blind date who also happened to be blind; been accosted in a cornfield by Glitter Ball, a lounge musician who grew up with the Beatles; and found her artistic sentiments at odds with her desire for financial security when she simultaneously got involved with a painter named Harry Potter and a NASA super-computer designer named Teflon, all in her quest to chronicle the dating life of a regular girl and maybe even find true love. Each of the 50 chapters is dedicated to a different date, and includes the kinds of tips and sharp observations that only someone on the front lines can offer. Get ready to laugh, cry, and commiserate with Amy--and learn, as she did, a few things about finding the perfect man.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Timeless. Hilarious. And mean. It's great!" -- E. Jean Carroll, ELLE Magazine

"With a voice that's a winning mix of Carrie Bradshaw and David Sedaris, DeZellar has penned a riotous paean..." -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"DeZellar is a straight-ahead writer with verve... "Dating Amy" is a light, sweet concoction that's perfect for summertime. -- Omaha World-Herald

"Sex and the Emerald City... includes dating tips, hookup myths proved and disproved, and a slew of classic dating horrors." -- Seattle Weekly

"woman from Seattle decided to kick-start her love life by going on fifty dates and sharing ...with the world." -- Associated Press

About the Author

Amy DeZellar has been an entertainment journalist for the past eight years. Currently living in Seattle, she got her start as a music critic in Los Angeles and has reviewed everything from Tom Jones to food courts for Launch.com, Michael Ovitz's Scour.com, and AOL's Local Guides.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: 5 Spot; First Edition, First Printing edition (June 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446696544
• ISBN-13: 978-0446696548
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,433,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wooking Pa Nub, August 13, 2006

By 

ChrisB "ChrisB" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater (Paperback)

Great non-fiction writing often requires a bit of masochism: Tom Wolfe dropped acid to better understand Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, George Plimpton matched up against professional boxers, and football and hockey players and then lived to write about it, and Richard C. Clarke worked for George W. Bush's White House on counter-terrorism issues, among countless other examples. Possibly topping that list is Amy DeZellar, whose very funny memoir Dating Amy recounts going on 50 dates. In Seattle (which has a notoriously bleak dating scene).

Amongst the characters that DeZellar goes on dates with include a blind man checking out other babes, a rock critic who had never heard of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and some guy she appropriately calls "Mistakenly Swingin'". When you start to think the book is a collection of exaggerations, you instantly remember getting phone calls from your friends late at night so they can recount the travails of evenings they can never get back. Or you remember sitting across from a younger couple at a 4 star restaurant where you here the guy can't believe that he just realized he forgot his wallet at home.

Dating Amy is never whiny or excessive. Most of the dates occupy only about 7 or 8 pages, so they never go on too long or become grating. She writes in a manner that is concise and humorous. You only want each date to end for her sake.

Dating Amy is part gonzo memoir, part self-help book and part tragically self-deprecating comedy routine. Ladies would probably enjoy Dating Amy because they can relate to her misery. Guys can learn a thing or two about what not to do on a date. It is written in such an accessible and funny matter that anyone would surely love to have a few drinks with DeZellar and commisserate over dating woes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read!, September 12, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater (Paperback)

What do you do when you move to a new city and can't find a job or a good man? If you're Amy, you create a website: www.DatingAmy.com. The premise: go on 50 dates and report on all the details. In the beginning, she hopes to create some buzz that will help her writing career.

Dating Amy blends memoir with relationship advice. I could identify with Amy when she wrote she knew what she wanted in a man but still didn't know what she wanted in a relationship. Her dates range in age and income level: artists, computer developers and entrepreneurs. She shares what she has learned about herself and the dating process with her readers.

Each date opens with a true confession--a truth about what happened or what Amy really wished/wanted. Several chapters end with myths that are bunked or debunked. Some myths that are covered: love only happens when you are not looking for it; online dating is perfect because it helps you find your perfect match; and things about unmarried men who are over 35 years old.

Amy reflects on various dating experiences: blind dates; the agony of waiting for his phone call; dating someone who is great on paper but with whom you don't have a lot of chemistry with; and being dumped after the first date. As a fellow Washington resident, I also enjoyed reading about places and events around Seattle.

Amy is very likeable and you really want her to find Mr. Right. She is a great writer and I loved her honesty and wit. Some dates made me cringe (like the comedian in dates 25 and 26) while others had me laughing out loud (dates 3 and 30).

I would recommend this book to both men and women. Dating and relationships can be tricky and this book provides hope and unofficial rules. I found myself nodding in agreement with Amy's observations. I also think this book would be great for book clubs since it raises many different issues.

Armchair Interviews says Seattle's version of Carrie Bradshaw, Dating Amy is a fantastic and fun read!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An insightful peek into today's world of dating, August 21, 2006

By 

Jeff Chen (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater (Paperback)

Being in the same oddball (read: freaky) world of dating as Amy, I've been entertaining myself by reading the handful of books published on the subject. Some are well-written, some contain entertaining stories, some let you really connect personally to the author, but Dating Amy is the first one I've come across to successfully combine all three elements. DeZellar does a great job of allowing the reader into her emotional and mental space in an alternately hilarious and tragic way.

One aspect that made this unique was her journaling of multiple dates with the same person over time. All relationships of any sort take time to develop, so it was really interesting to see how she interacted with the same person over a couple of dates. Life can turn on a dime, and hearing how DeZellar experienced those inflection points inherent in the first few meetings with someone was fascinating.

I can't wait to meet Amy at an upcoming book signing!