What You Need to Know About This Book:
- It’s about Dan and his failure to make any money from his bookshop;
- Dan hides this fact from Jill, his wife, who wants a baby;
- Dan loves Jill and will do anything to save his marriage except tell Jill the truth;
- Dan worries he comes up short when compared with Peter, Jill’s previous husband who died;
- Dan becomes increasingly desperate to make a lot of money fast;
- He thinks of crazy schemes such as selling diapers emblazoned with helpful advice; ‘No Thank You Note Required’ greeting cards; and robbing a bingo hall;
- Dan’s therapist once suggested he keep lists as a way to manage his anxiety;
- Twenty-One Things About Love is written entirely in Dan’s lists.
The lists vary from poignant to wry to very funny, and capture the randomness of Dan’s thoughts, e.g.:
- The list about Bingo with Bill (the old guy Dan makes friends with at bingo who has the same view of happiness as Don Draper)
- Field & Stream’s Rules of Gunfighting
- Any of the lists that feature Dan’s Laws of the Universe (Walk around with Diet Coke and half a dozen assholes will tell you how bad it is for you. Walk around with diet root beer and no one says a word)
- Things I wish I Had Known 20 Years Ago When I Was 20 (Peppermint schnapps is not an acceptable substitute for mouthwash)
- Deep thoughts related to food (If you’re going to more than one grocery store in a week, you have too much time on your hands and have somehow elevated the quality of your heirloom tomatoes over time spent with your family)
- Dan’s 6 Rules of Drinking Stories (Drinking stories never impress the type of woman you want to impress; Even the best drinking stories are seriously compromised if told during the daytime and/or at the workplace)
- Weird Things I Do ( I don’t look at the pilot when boarding a plane in fear that he will remind me on an idiot who I know)
What’s Great About This Book:
- Clever sequencing of lists such as Reasons I fell in Love with Jill, followed by Reasons I Wouldn’t Have Married Jill If I Hadn’t Fallen in Love with Her gives you insightful information about the main characters quickly
- There’s a bunch of peripheral but interesting characters (bossy Kimberley who thinks she should manage the bookshop; good-guy Steve who should manage the shop; Bill from bingo; Dan’s batty mother; Jake the successful, smart-arse brother; Dan’s father whom we never meet but who sends Dan letters he refuses to open)
- The story builds to a gripping climax as Dan plans a crazy scheme to solve his money woes
- The scheme involves a major felony
- You don’t know if he’ll carry it out or not
- You hope he doesn’t and this adds to the tension
- Jake learns a lot more about love by the end, as well as about life
- You will probably like the ending
I can’t help but congratulate the author on his ability to bring together humour, quirky characters, escalating tension and, of course, lists to tell a great story. A four star read from me.
Judith McKinnon 