The Encyclopedia of Exes: 26 Stories by Men of Love Gone Wrong

Meredith Broussard once again delivers a fun and inciteful collection of stories. A great way to find new favorite authors.

Women have been heard from (a lot) relative to relationships with men. Meredith Broussard, who has written much on the relationship theme, was often asked, "What about the men?" People wanted to know what men thought and felt about relationships. Broussard sent out the word to male authors and then compiled these stories of male-version heartbreak into what some might call "lad lit," the guy version of chick lit. All these stories are supposed to be fiction, but maybe not--as some wrote about girlfriends (or how they hoped old girlfriends would have reacted at breakup). My favorite story, "Nightlife" by Lee Klein is about New York nightlife, that you can get a call from a drinking friend to join them (when the rest of the world is tucked in safely for the night) and arrive at the bar at 1:22 a.m. to spend another couple house drinking and listening to your already-drunk friends wax poetic about relationships. Drunk friends...remember them from college and later growing-up nights out? These 26 men didn't mince words, even though the words are "fiction," crossing ages and kinds of relationships. Some remind me of Ann LaMott's biting humor in her self-effacing way of getting to the point. Armchair Interviews says: Sharp writing geared to those who worry about misconduct, miscommunication, misgivings and other dating disasters, the A to Z of men speak about relationships.

Moving from the female perspective of why relationships failed (see THE DICTIONARY OF FAILED RELATIONSHIPS), THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXES provides the male point of view. The twenty-six contributions run the gamut, but surprisingly few blame the woman. In fact several of the authors place themselves in the female's moccasins and hold themselves culpable; thus the reader sees a fuller view of the relationship and why it fell apart. Many of the entries are poignant and filled with pathos while others contain nostalgic memories (ignoring the negatives) and even include other types of bi-gender relationships (one for instance showcases a father and daughter struggling with her no longer being his little girl). Still a few inputs come across as inane and shallow. Overall this is a creative collection mostly filled with strong insightful looks at why we failed; a fine companion to its female counter anthology. Harriet Klausner