I Love You, Nice to Meet You: A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up [Hardcover]

Lori Gottlieb (Author), Kevin Bleyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2006

A hilarious, razor-sharp look at the mating rituals of the dating species.

 

Lori and Kevin are smart, honest, funny thirtysomething hopeless romantics who--despite their best efforts--are still single. They've seen it all in the dating wars and come back from the front with plenty of emotional scar tissue. Like romance anthropologists, they deconstruct every key moment in the life cycle of a relationship from what the fake purse grab really means when the check comes to who gets "home couch advantage" in couples therapy.  In this book, get both the male and female perspectives on:
 
* Fighting etiquette (is all fair in love and war?)
* Voicemail message analysis. ("Hi, it's who?")
* Body hair (where, why, and how much?)

* Blind dates (are your good friends good pimps?).
* How to identify (and avoid) freaks
* To cry or not to cry (if you're a guy) in front of a woman.
* Terms of adorement (should you save the pet names for your dog?)
* Cheating (without actually cheating)
* Knowing when a relationship is really over (or: Whether it's better to dump or be dumped)
* And much, much more.
 
I Love You, Nice to Meet You is a hilarious and eye-opening collection of "anecdates" from a guy and a girl who just want to find the one, but--lucky for you--they haven't. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Knowing that bad dates make good stories, Gottlieb (Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self) and Bleyer, a writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, share a collection of "anecdates" in this he-said she-said guide to "coupling up" that has not infrequent flashes of true hilarity-a rarity among the ever swelling ranks of humorous dating guides. The authors, good friends who have never been an item ("not now, not then"), provide individual interpretations on the standard fare of relationship topics, but cleverly; chapter titles include "Venue Ask Her Out - Is 'location, location, location' the key to getting a second date?" and "I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me How - Is there any civilized way to get naked with a new lover?" Insights such as "If you cry about anything less than the death of a mother...you're doomed," "Oprah is pornography for women" and "a week of uninterrupted physical presence isn't a sign of love. It's a stakeout," make Gottlieb and Bleyer's stiff shots of wisdom go down more like a fizzy summertime cocktail, helping to make the dating game, if not always fun, at least fun to read about.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"I laughed and then I laughed again…then my stomach hurt and I was glad I was married!"
--Greg Behrendt, New York Times bestselling author of He's Just Not That Into You

 

"The best new funny book about dating on Planet Earth, perhaps in the entire universe, and certainly in the Milky Way.  Even Tolstoy and God together couldn't write something as funny and cool and weird and wonderful as this."

--Molly Jong-Fast, author of Normal Girl and The Sex Doctors in the Basement

 

"Funny, affecting, blunt, and useful."
--Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday

"The funniest book about dating to date."
--Valerie Frankel, author of Hex and the Single Girl

 

"Sure, chivalry died.  But it got replaced by something much funnier-and luckily, Lori Gottlieb and Kevin Bleyer are here to describe it."

--Jenny Lyn Bader, coauthor of He Meant She Meant: The Definitive Male/Female Dictionary

 

"For lonely urban singles, here- finally- is a warm, witty companion to crawl into bed with at night.  The bad news is, it's a book.  The good news is, I Love You, Nice to Meet You is very funny, only costs a low one-time fee, and won't call you regularly at 1 A.M. 'just to say hi' (I forgot in which chapter, but it's covered).  Shake up a Cosmo for one and enjoy."

--Sandra Tsing Loh, author of A Year in Van Nuys 

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312340087
• ISBN-13: 978-0312340087
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,581,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lori Gottlieb is the New York Times bestselling author whose first book, STICK FIGURE: A DIARY OF MY FORMER SELF, was an American Library Association "Best Books 2001" selection. She has also co-written I LOVE YOU, NICE TO MEET YOU and INSIDE THE CULT OF KIBU. Her radio commentaries can be heard on National Public Radio and her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Atlantic, Time, People, Elle, Self, Slate and Glamour. Her newest book, MARRY HIM: THE CASE FOR SETTLING FOR MR. GOOD ENOUGH, is a surprising and in-depth look at modern dating, marriage, and what really makes for a happy long-term romantic partnership. Visit her website at www.lorigottlieb.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HILARIOUS AND INSIGHTFUL -- the BEST new book about love, June 10, 2006

By 

Danielle "Yaron" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Love You, Nice to Meet You: A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up (Hardcover)

This is the funniest book I've read in a long time -- I was actually laughing out loud and stopping to call friends and read portions of the book to them. But despite the hilarious observations of both authors (who say they aren't dating but I can't understand why not -- they're both incredibly witty and clever and seem to have a natural rapport), I actually found their insights to be valuable. They made me look at male/female relationships differently at times, which is saying something in this era of "He Said/She Said" books that just recycle stereotypical notions from popular culture. I LOVE YOU, NICE TO MEET YOU, on the other hand, is absolutely unique -- it's both memoir (of the authors' own dating experiences) and fresh cultural critique. It also has some poignant, tear-jerking stories that we can all relate to (especially in the parts about breaking up) and deals with topics we're all familiar with, but that nobody else seems to have written about, either in quite the same way, or at all.

Most of all, this book is wonderfully entertaining! Great to take to the beach or curl up with in bed at night. Read it alone, or share it with your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. A GREAT read!!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can you date a book?, September 10, 2007

By 

Deb (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Love You, Nice to Meet You: A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up (Paperback)

Funny, "I Love You, Nice to Meet You" are the same sentiments I had as soon as I read the first few pages of this book. Like a good date, this book is packed with wit, humor, irresistibility, and, charm. And, like a good relationship, this book offers heart-felt truths, wisdom, and insights if you're ready for them.

Kevin and Lori ("the guy and the girl") share their personal experiences, perspectives, and humor on "coupling up," falling down, and getting back up again. A he-said/she-said look at the anatomy of a relationship--from the first date to the "ex-sightings" (and all the rewarding, funny, annoying, and painful milestones in between)--this book offers both a fresh look and a guide book for coupling up without selling out. It seems quite obvious that every word the authors write reflects the experiences they've really encountered, survived, and learned (or are still learning) from.

If you're currently dating, pondering dating, sworn off dating (again), or, uh, just human, this book is likely to offer (so much) more than just a good time. Just like a good date...

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, November 6, 2006

By 

S. Goyle "boredtotearsovertheatlantic" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Love You, Nice to Meet You: A Guy and a Girl Give the Lowdown on Coupling Up (Hardcover)

I found this book rather boring. The author's were trying so hard to be funny. This seems to be yet another book sucking the blood out of the dating stereotype out there.I think books like these create a bigger gap between men and women and confuse people further about dating. I bought this book thinking it would be something light and funny to read on a long flight, but I gritted my teeth all the way and finally re -read the chef menu on the aeroplane which I found more delightful.