Playing the Tuba at Midnight: The Joys and Challenges of Singleness

This book has been a real breath of fresh air. It is written with much humour, but covers some very real issues for singles. This is done with a great deal of common sense and includes issues for those of us living in the real world. The book is a Christian one, but the message it gives would be useful to anyone. It is aimed more and single females that males. Don't assume its got ANYTHING to do with Tuba's - it doesn't!

Although it doesn't talk about playing a tuba, it lets you in on some of the positive aspects of being single. It's rather hard to play the tuba at midnight if you have a sleeping spouse, isn't it? When I bought this book some time ago I found it humorous, uplifting and realistic. Being single can be difficult, especially after 30, and sometimes you need something to lift you up. Growing tired of the "how to find your perfect mate" books, I will dig out and dust off my copy of this book and read it. It's always nice to have a good laugh every now and then.

This book offers a candid, often humorous look at the "joys and challenges" of being an older single woman in today's society. Directed at those in their mid-30s and older, it is not a "how-to" manual for finding the man of your dreams; rather, it seeks to encourage women at this stage of life to let go of the idea of marriage as the only and ultimate goal in life and make the most of their singleness. It addresses issues such as beating loneliness and isolation, household and personal organization, credit and debt, romance, taking vacations, surviving Christmas and other "family" holidays, accepting your appearance, PMS, the dangers of giving sex to get intimacy, finding identity in Christ, and learning to reach out and serve others as a way to meet the need for relationship. The purpose of the book can be summed up in the author's closing paragraph: "It is good to know who you are. When you are secure in your identity as a treasured child of God and have finally decided to trust his intentions for you, you are freed to devote your energies to those pursuits that really count--mainly furthering the kingdom of God. Freed from the panic of having to control every circumstance in our lives, you and I can live gracefully single.

Rand writes her reflections on 30+ years of singleness in this witty and honest book. She writes from a Christian perspective, but without the cloistered and unrealistic attitudes that seem to pervade much of such literature. Rand makes it clear being single brings with it difficult and lonely times. She doesn't sugarcoat the frustrations, but doesn't resort to self-pity, either. An articulate and strong writer, Rand's sense of humor and pithy observations make this book a delight to read