The Longest Date: Life as a Wife
Television producer and writer Chupack (Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond) gifts readers with an inside look at her messy marriage in a memoir that is alternately laugh-out-funny and surprisingly poignant. There are passages that come close to oversharing (attending a sex show together in Thailand is likely outside the milieu of most couples), but Chupack is so upfront about her emotions that she quickly becomes more an old friend than “the author” (this will resonate strongly with fans of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte). Her previous marriage to a man who turned out to be gay is ripe for much hindsight, and the infertility struggles she and current husband Ian endure are especially heartfelt. Chupack is most compelling, however, when she focuses on the ordinary hard truths of coupledom. She talks man caves, old flames, and uneven earning potential and ponders the allure of bad boys, the acquisition of a pet (a St. Bernard!), and blending households. Chupack’s engaging page-turner is a natural for book clubs, and there’s already talk of a TV series. --Colleen Mondor