The Truth About Dating

Julie Christensen

Thirty-eight year old Quinn Malone is tired of sitting home alone, watching Jersey Shore and doing crossword puzzles. She’s also tired of being single, and decides to make finding a man her top priority. The Truth About Dating recounts Quinn’s endeavors, from Match.com to speed dating, to the dreaded blind date. Quinn details the the madness of dating, from excitement to exhaustion, and depression to acceptance.  As Quinn looks for her soulmate, she also begins to understand more about herself.

Julie Christensen could have written this book about me.  Seriously.   Anyone who has been in the dating game, especially over the age of 30, can identify with Quinn.  And the dating experience is spot on.  The easy email conversation of online dating that makes you think “hey, this guy seems cool” Then you meet him, and there’s no chemistry.  Or sorting through the emails from potential matches, where you wonder “did they even read my profile?”

The humor of an impossibly bad date. The disappointment when the one guy you do like doesn’t feel the same way about you.  The commentary-solicited or not- from everyone in your life about why you’re still single.  The sheer exhaustion of dating.  Figuring out how to be yourself and make yourself happy while learning how someone else fits into your life.  And the realization that the happy ending you get may not be the one you always thought you would have.

This isn’t a typical chick lit book. But I think anyone still single long after they thought they would be will enjoy this one.   The one thing that annoyed me about the book was the number of typos that I saw. Certainly not one on every page, but the kind of thing that makes you go, “wait, what?” while reading.  Still, that’s more of a warning to be prepared, and not a caution against reading the book.

As a side note, there may be a “Thinking” post about things I realized and recognized while reading this book.