I had this one on my wanting-to-read list since I saw a review of it in People Magazine and so I was excited when my mom gave me a copy for Christmas. It was refreshing to read an account of being a single Mormon girl in a big east coast city trying to navigate the minefields of dating, and LDS culture. Sure there are some books like that out there but this is the most true to life I've read to date. I guess because it hasn't been white washed and sanitized by Deseret Books. The picture she paints is accurate. I will totally vouch for that.
Here are a few excerpts from the beginning of the book:
Cue: this place. And by this place, I mean a lame dance held in a church gym..... Let's not forget tonight's DJ Brother Mo, who's wearing a polyester suit and tie with no trace of irony. He occupies the stage at the far end of the gym. To his left there's a long plastic table for refreshments: lemonade and cookies, as if we're a little league soccer team.
....If it weren't already painfully obvious, these events are organized to facilitate marriage. How else would we Manhattan Mormons meet, marry and then make more Mormons? (Take that, Sally and your seashells at the seashore). No one acknowledges this, though; that's another unspoken rule of the Mormon dance. We're all just here to "have fun". The effect is pretty horrifying. It's like watching a bunch of assembly line workers at a factory pretending they're there because they love screwing nuts on bolts. I want to should "Can't we just acknowledge that we are here eventually to screw a nut on a bolt?" But no one would get the joke, and the ones who do would be terribly offended.
However, this book may not be for everyone. I could see that more conservative members would be offended by certain parts (or even rallying for the author to be ex'd). She's very open about her faith, her doubts, and her sexuality. I was a little turned off by how much of the books focused on the importance of being physically attractive. And sometimes her naitivy (spelling?) was just annoying (she doesn't know porn is available on the internet? Come on, you only hear about porn at every single General Conference).
Overall, I give this book two thumbs up and would recommend it to my Mormon and non-Mormon single gal friends alike.
2 comments:
i saw the people review and googled her. i read some excerpts and also watched some pretty funny youtube videos of her. she does some readings that are more like stand up.
I have never heard of this... but will surely read it!
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