Karla Telega and Linton Robinson are the ones responsible for collecting this hilarious group of stories and opinions about that celebrated day of love - Valentine's Day. Subtitled `America's Most Hilarious Writers Take On Love, Romance, and Other Complications' this is one of those `must have' books not only because it is terrific reading but also because it has a lot to say about contemporary relationships. To give the reader an idea of how the book flows, some `chapters' are included below.
`Married - So Very Married' by Joan Oliver Emmer tries to remember all holidays for Valentine's Day `I'm lucky if I remember to grab a card and make a jello mold'. Gregg Podolski in `Be Romantic or Die' states `guys fall into one of two categories; 1. Men who buy expensive, thoughtful gifts several days before Februery 14th and 2. Men who haven't recently been caught having an affair' and how he handles the annual situation. Barry Parham offers a lengthy and pithy `A Comedy of Eros' dealing with searching for Valentines that aren't packaged in packs of six! Leigh Anne Jasheway gives us `Playing Valentine's Day by the Rules' - a diatribe on a woman's view of how men behave on this day of love....
There are pages of Contemporary Candy Heart Slogans (Too Tiny, No Pubes, Rug Burns, Fix Teeth, Try Soap, etc), Valentine Verses by Dorothy Rosby, Valentine `Report Cards' (hilarious bits by Barb Best), Cartoons, multiple languages that express the way to say `I Love You', a survey by Robert G. Ferrell on 'Husbandology', pages of cute quotations by famous people on the subject of love and valentines, updated expressions for the day such as `I (Heart) V-Day by Cammy May Hunnicutt, and other funny bits such as Dawn Weber's `Love Among the Nudists.' There are poems for the occasion, comments on quality of presents - the list just goes on and on for 150 pages. At the end of the book are brief biographies of the `Amazing Humorists' - news to many of us and kudos to a crew of writers who are very in the know about love and relationships. This is a little treasure of a book with some of the most terse humor being written today! Grady Harp, December 11
