Customer Reviews

What Was I Thinking?: 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"What Was I Thinking?" - the new collection of essays about bad boyfriend behavior from editor/writers Liz Dubelman and Barbara Davilman - which includes essays by Carrie Fisher and Rachel Resnick (whose book "Love Junkie" made me realize I got a jones of my own) - is a sassy salve for single women everywhere. Hell, it's a salve for married women, too. Men are good for some things (some better than others) - but let's face it, they all descend into dorkdom at various stages of knowing them - some sooner than others. I am single in my forties, and have been engaged twice - I think I've been on more dates than most women in their lives. Which means, more BAD dates (leading to BAD relationships) than most women my age - most women alive, perhaps. This book comforts me and makes me feel less like I am the only femme in the world who's had to live through these excruciating, awkward, depressing - and ultimately (and much later), hilarious moments. Bad experiences always lead to hilarious literature - that's bad experience's only upside. Read this after a bad date or a bad break up - you'll feel much better! And men, read it and weep - whoops, didn't mean that - read it and LEARN.
Merle Ginsberg

For people who think there are few things more hilarious than stories about Mr. Wrong, this book is manna from Romance Hell. The subtitle might be misleading, in that the men in question aren't necessarily bad boyfriends -- though, to be sure, many of them are horrendous -- but they are all bad choices by the women who are often dragged kicking and screaming to that realization, while we get to sit back and laugh as the evidence piles up. A "Sex and the City"-type TV series seems like a no-brainer, as does a Davilman/Dubelman talk show. Bring on the sequels.

This collection of essays are deceptively amusing. I did laugh out loud, but I also found some hard-won wisdom, too. A great gift for the romance-prone among us.

Reading WHAT WAS I THINKING? is like having lunch with your best girlfriend...all the stories are fantastic, and made me feel so much better about my own (questionable) choices when it comes to men...I especially LOVED Rhonda Talbot's story - was literally laughing out loud.

This book was hilarious, I laughed out loud. So many stories I related to, as most women will. I can't wait for the next one!

We've all been there, ladies. This book is hilarious. I defy you not to fit into one of these scenarios!

Ah, boyfriends. Husbands. Lovers. Men in general. Most of them are wonderful, if you meet them at the right time and right place in your life. But we usually have to go through at least one "bad boyfriend" before Mr. Right; it's so prevalent that it's almost a female rite of passage. Davilman and Dubelman started asking around and yep, just about every woman they talked to had a bad boyfriend story. More importantly, there was usually a defining moment where each woman realized "This is never going to work." The breakup might have happened immediately after that "aha!" moment, or it might have taken a couple months or years for said woman to finally throw in the towel. But they all that distinct "aha" moment where they just knew this guy wasn't going to be the one.

I had requested that our Collection Development department order my branch a copy of this collection, and when it showed up last week on a return, I thought I should read it. Why not? I mean, it was my idea to order it, right? Well, I sat down yesterday afternoon to read some of it - and ended up finishing the whole thing in just a few hours. The stories are addictive in a way I hadn't anticipated, and also very reminiscent of parts of my own life. Some are more literary than others, some are downright hilarious, some are just sad. And the "aha" moments are all so different, everything from a prospective beau mangling the French language in a restaurant to another boyfriend yelling about the "right" size noodles to use in soup. One of the funnier ones is "My Date with Homer", where the date in question starts talking about his childhood and inadvertently plants the seed in the woman's mind that she's on a date with Homer Simpson. Try as she might, she can no longer see him as her date - only as the goofy, doughnut lovin' cartoon father to Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie. Needless to say, she was over him in a hurry!

If you've ever had a relationship gone bad, if you've ever hung in long past that point when you knew you should've gotten out, if you've ever said to yourself "He'll realize how wonderful I am IF...", then you should read this book. You'll laugh, you might cry - but I guarantee that you'll nod your head in complete understanding. We've all had an "aha" moment - and we've all had a bad boyfriend.

The perfect book to get your women friends for Valentine's Day...
Hilarious, dishy, unbelievable and yet...so so believable.

Hilarious, poignant, this book hits nerves and funny bones. It is delicious! A must-have, must-read. Particularly loved the stories by Rhonda Talbot and Rachel Resnick who both (thankfully) have other books available on Amazon. Buy it now!

Every woman over the age of 18 will recognize this book. These women are us! Great read, I took it on vacation.