[The following column, printed in the Monday, May 5th edition of Synthesis Weekly, is an installment from our literature columnist, Emilie Clark.]

Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me
Edited by Ben Karlin
Grand Central Publishing

In an interesting turn on the book cover theme: Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me, an anthology of essays penned exclusively by men, has a very blue cover. I think it is cornflower blue, but not being an interior design major, I might be wrong about that. Anyway, it seems that sometimes men also get stereotyped and gendered through the use of infantilizing color schemes. But I will say that this blue is a much nicer color than the pink of last week, and I was not embarrassed at all to be seen reading this book. My manly boyfriend says the color wouldn’t embarrass him either. So there you have it.
The premise of this book is pretty obvious. A number of famous and semi-famous male authors and comedians tackle some break-ups and the lessons learned from them. Andy Richter talks about how hard it was for a teenager of his girth to find a girlfriend; Stephen Colbert writes about an old girlfriend, but lets his wife redact the naughty bits; and Neal Pollack tells an especially hilarious cautionary tale about midnight emissions and pets.
Most of the stories are pretty funny, some of the laugh out loud variety, and some of them even have a bit of heart. But I was surprisingly underwhelmed. As I read the list of contributors, my anticipation grew strong, but a lot of the big names seem to have just phoned it in. Standouts include “A Dog is No Reason to Say Together” by Damian Kulash Jr., singer of OK Go, who tells an intriguingly honest story about a relationship that could have been mine or anyone else I know. It’s about that kind of pre-marriage long-term relationship where the terms and contracts are really hard to define and you’re not sure how or when it should end. Another standout is Barbara Karlin’s forward, “I Think My Son is a Catch.” I’m sure you can guess what it’s about.
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Happy Birthday to playwright/screenwriter David Mamet, who turned 60 today. Mamet is probably best known for his 1984 play, Glengary Glen Ross, a scathing tale about salesmen that was turned into a movie starring Jack Lemon and Alec Baldwin in 1992 (Mamet also adapted the screenplay). Mamet is still productive, however, and his latest play, November, is set to open at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City on Jan. 17th, 2008. The play stars Nathan Lane as President Charles H.P. Smith and Laurie Metcalf as his speech writer Clarice Bernstein. The play is a contemporary comedy that follows Smith, an incumbent president, closing in on Election Day. Mamet, certainly no stranger to political satire (he co-wrote the screenplay for Wag the Dog), says that the November is inspired by the tradition of the US president pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving. For more about November, check out articles here and here. For more about David Mamet, go to a library or book store and read something.

Today’s also author Samuel Langhorne Clemens’s birthday, better known as his pen name Mark Twain. You should probably read him too.

After listening to Stephen Colbert’s NPR interview yesterday, I was reminded just how awesome he is. I haven’t had the joys of cable TV for a while now, which may lead to me buying his book, I Am America (And So Can You!).

Just look at that marvolous piece of literature. I’m not sure if it’s actually marvelous, as I haven’t read it yet, but if you listened to Colbert read from his book in the Fresh Air episode (above-linked), then you know it’s probably going to be good. Anyway, during the interview they spoke about his White House Correspondent’s Dinner speech, bashing George Bush while sitting an arm’s length away, so I looked it up today…and enjoyed reliving every moment. God Bless you Stephen Colbert…God Bless and keep you.

there’s a long excerpt of the book after the jump for your enjoyment.
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