Customer Reviews

Every Friday Night: My Year of Dating Misadventures

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a cute, somewhat interesting read, but their were some things that annoyed me about the book, and I am not blaming the writer, I blame the editor. The book states that names were changed, characters were given non-everyday names as Olga and Kay--but there were never any real physical descriptions of the friends who were mentioned throughout the book. Also, the men that she dated were not given good physical descriptions. I feel some of this was in part by the publishers efforts to make this a more mainstream book vs. an African-American book. The dating stories were funny, but after awhile they got kind of boring. The author went on a lot of bad dates. I grew bored of one misfit guy after another and would have liked if this book took a different twist in the middle. It is entertaining.

This memoir type book written by a woman trying to date her way into a steady relationship is just wonderful.

The author is candid and takes a funny, fresh and honest look at her dating record. What is interesting is that she analyzes each one and realizes that sometimes, she is being as weird as the guy.

Each chapter starts with a cute little "my grandma always said" and some of the sayings are priceless.

Overall, this book is great and I am glad that I purchased it.

What would make a smart, attractive, charismatic investment
banker commit to going out on a date every Friday night for
a full year? Predictable situations often invoke unpredictable
behavior. Facing her thirtieth birthday, and suffering from a
broken heart, Ritta is depressed. After a session with her
therapist who prescribes medication for her depression, she
decides to re-write her script. So she embarks on a 52 week
dating sabbatical. This book shares the good, the bad and the
ugly side of dating through the eyes of a woman who desperately
needs a man to complete her life.

In EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT: MY YEAR OF DATING MISADVENTURES, Ms.
McLaughlin tells her story with open-hearted honesty, bravely
sharing her flaws and her reckless actions while she dates 28
different men. Her account of these outings exposes how
deceitful, insincere and dogmatic some men are. Three best
friends serve as the life preserver that saves her from
drowning in an emotional cesspool after each failed encounter.

Though this is an interesting read, at times it is repetitive
and predictable. But, to the author's credit, the escapades
are sometimes hilarious and sometimes dismal as they depict
realistic scenarios of people looking for love in too many
places.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Every Friday Night, by Ritta McLaughlin,was a fun read. In Every Friday Night,the author recaps a year's worth of her personal dating experiences while living in New York City. From playboys, to men with no manners, to brothers with baggage, Ritta has dated them all. After each date, Ritta is provided with some insight into the male psyche but little into her own. It takes several botched dates, and a little self-discovery, before Ritta learns the ultimate key to being happy. Meanwhile, she has the support of her best friends and her uncle to pull her through.

I found Every Friday Night to be quite entertaining. It was fun reliving Ritta's dating horrors, as they reminded me of my own. After a while, however, reading about each date became a little monotonous. Chapter after chapter, the reader was forced to go out with Ritta without a break. It was not until the end of the book that some sort of growth was realized. Perhaps timely for Ritta, but tedious for the reader. If you are looking for a fun read, with laughs, and an opportunity to say, "Been there, done that," I say make a date with Ritta one Friday Night.

T. Rhythm Knight
APOOO BookClub

I think this is one of the first books for a buppie by a genuine buppie. (For those not in the know, a "buppie" is a "black urban professional.") It has the perfect blend of high power ego-trippin (complete with the name dropping of top schools, professional degrees, and the hottest night spots in NYC) and cultural sayings that just about everyone in Ms. McLaughlin's age group (myself included) can remember being said by their parents, grandparents, church elders, or some other individual who helped raise them. Also, like all good buppies, Ms. McLaughlin and her friends use just the right sprinkling of "urban" slang to add flavor to their otherwise intellectually charged conversations. Quite honestly, I could picture my own friends and even myself in a lot of these situations. The diary-style writing is a little jarring at times . . . but being the busy buppie that I am, it made for a good read during those busy commutes to and from the office. Definitely a good pick-up-put-down piece. My only criticism is that some readers outside of the buppie set (most notably white folks) may not be able to follow all of the conversations because they are peppered with so many colloquialisms. But, that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book personally . . . in fact, I would have found it far more irritating if she either (a) watered-down the language or (b) provided explanatory phrases for those not in the know. So, that's the reason for the four stars . . . but otherwise, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for a plane trip or something like that.

This is a very funny, thought provoking, and enlightening look into the modern dating scene. If you've had bad dating experiences (as I'm sure we all have) and want reassurance that you are not alone, this is the book for you. I found it a bit odd, however, that the book was classified in my local Borders store as "self-help" because there's not much advice to be had. The chapters are framed by some good, old-fashioned common sense sayings from the author's grandmother, but to me the book is more one woman's exploration of what she's looking for from herself and a potential partner than advice to others. There are also a couple of places where the publisher should've been a little more diligent in editing - watch for some misspellings and small gramamtical errors. Overall, it's a good summer read and a good starting point for anyone on the dating scene to perform some honest reflection and self-analysis.

This book was excellent. It was a fun read and I really enjoyed it. It's good to know that a lot of women these days are having some of the same problems that Ms. McLaughlin had with dating. Again, Great book. Sisters, Read this book!

This book starts out funny and cute but gets a little annoying halfway through. The author goes from one pathetic date to another. Perhaps the book should've been shorter before I had a chance to start wondering why such a smart, talented lady keeps atracting such sorry dudes.

I compliment the author on writing an entertaining, at times funny, generally easy-to-read book. It was a quick read, a nice break from the more serious, denser books that I read. I can respect when writers engage in odder activities, because they are doing it for a book, and you have to view the behaviors in the viewpoint of "they are entertainers, they are looking to provide an insight by eating something we would never do, going on trips we would always avoid, engaging in activities that are at the limits of the norm." But this writer uses a real name, and simple Google searches show she is a well-known participant in the municipal finance markets. A writer who has the experiences she has, I can understand. But someone in a position of enormous book and judgment intelligence is not someone who I can understand choosing to engage in the public explanation of such behaviors. Maturity is beyond just degrees or work experience- it is, in my personal opinion, the ability of others to feel a level of confidence and comfort in someone else handling a serious-minded endeavor, and to be able to make that decision based on the individual's past behaviors and past judgment. This writer's experiences, though entertaining, do not invoke -to me- a level of personal maturity and does not provide me a level of confidence to have her in the position of making decisions on serious minded public financial matters, such as bonds, restructurings, and public infrastructure activities. I wish she had used an assumed name, so that she can say she is a well educated financial professional, without letting everyone know about her other activities.

I liked the story, but found myself at time not knowing who was speaking or if the moment was real for the charater or if they were thinking in their head.