(View entire post here)

I'm embarrassed to say how many dating books I've read during my lifetime. But it's not entirely my fault. In the first place, I had many of them foisted on me by my sisters and my female friends. I also had to read a whole slew of them when I was researching my book, Decoding Love. What have I discovered after all this reading? In the words of Georgia O'Keefe, there's no there there. The vast majority of books are little more than a series of random anecdotes strung together.

For the best example of this, let's take a huge hit from a few years ago, He's Just Not That Into You. As Sex and the City fans know, this book emerged from Miranda's sudden epiphany that all of male relationship misbehavior can be explained with one simple statement: He's just not that into you. And the book goes on to illustrate this point in endless ways. It's the first book I have ever read which you could judge not just by its cover but by its title alone. I can see the appeal of the book. It's funny and entertaining. As relationship advice, though, it is, to say the least, a little thin. If I could pose one simple question, why is he just not that into you? I don't think that is too much to ask. I'm not looking for heavy number crunching or statistical modeling. But I think it's not unreasonable to offer something to readers beyond a one-sentence thesis.

 

 

 

 

» Kathryn Stockett discusses her novel and how her own experiences growing up in the South inspired her to write a story about three women confronting the racial barriers of the 1960s.

» Listen to other Penguin Podcasts.

» Read more about The Help

Kathryn Stockett, The Help, Podcast