A funny, satirical, but ultimately affirmative examination of the Lords of the dating world.
Two writers relate their war stories from the fraught dating scene in this guide.
In this collaboration, Averhart and Zimmerman share many of their personal experiences with the various “Lords” in the dating world—each man is used to exemplify a larger group or type. There’s Lord At-Your-Peril, a culprit who can load on his abuse in any number of ways—and about whom the authors have no-nonsense, completely unambiguous advice: run. “The relationship won’t get better,” they warn. “It can’t because it’s not about you.” There’s Lord FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), who openly admits that he’s playing the field and is just interested in dating, not commitment. About this Lord, the authors caution the romantics among their readers: “Many women will date Lord FOMO and say, ‘surely, once he gets to know me, he’ll change his mind. I can win him over.’ Uh, don’t count on it.” There are many others—Lord Contradiction, Lord Self-Absorbed, and so on—and the habits of each are dissected in detail, followed by the authors laying out the lessons that can be learned from dealing with the man. They break up these lessons with “Bloopers,” chapters in which Averhart and Zimmerman tell some of their favorite and most entertaining stories about all corners of the dating world, from apps to heartbreak. Their book is very well illustrated by Steiner in an invitingly cartoonish style, very well designed for easy reading, and, most of all, very knowing and compassionate. The authors stress that their lessons apply to the Ladies on the dating scene as well as the Lords, and the main theme running through the work is one of empowerment. Again and again, the authors assure their readers that they are in control of their own dating lives.
A funny, satirical, but ultimately affirmative examination of the Lords of the dating world.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-955711-03-6
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Stonebrook Pub.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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