cover image Much Ado About Loving: What Our Favorite Novels Can Teach You About Date Expectations, Not-So-Great Gatsbys, and Lust in the Time of Internet Personals

Much Ado About Loving: What Our Favorite Novels Can Teach You About Date Expectations, Not-So-Great Gatsbys, and Lust in the Time of Internet Personals

Jack Murnighan and Maura Kelly. Free Press, $19.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4516-2124-2

Murnighan (Beowulf on the Beach) and freelancer Kelly share tales about their own romantic messes alongside wisdom they’ve gleaned from favorite classics. The Bell Jar teaches us to own up to our intimacy issues before seeking love; Madame Bovary shows that cheating isn’t justified when it’s the easy way out of an unsatisfactory relationship. Although the essays ramble and Kelly’s voice grows irritating, this is a clever, amusing hybrid of lit crit and relationship advice. (Jan.)