I HATE WEDDINGS

Previously met in I Hate Camping (1991) and I Hate Company (1994), young Dan goes from pillar to post when he’s asked

to be Best Man at his father’s second wedding. His determination to make a good impression on Joan, his father’s wife-to-be and herself a divorced mother of two, nearly founders on a string of mischances, from ill-timed kitchen messes to a disastrous late-night sortie for pizza with Riley, his prospective younger stepbrother. In the end, Dan’s mixed feelings, fueled by the gnawing fear that his father will no longer have time for him, are skillfully allayed, and he surreptitiously saves the day when Riley’s tarantula, Melvin, escapes during the ceremony. The characters, including the adults, are drawn in low but distinct relief, emotional issues are laid out without being overanalyzed, and readers will wince in sympathy as Dan finds himself in one

embarrassing situation after another.