It’s Saturday night, and instead of spending it with your best friends or catching up on your Netflix rentals, you just wasted your precious free time on another bad date. Maybe someone whom you thought was going to be Prince Charming turned out to be a lot more like the Beast, pre-Belle. Well, Jeannine Luby wants you to laugh, no matter how ridiculous or awful that experience was.
Why is that, you might ask? Luby, the author of the self-published “He’s Not Prince Charming When ...,” is pretty big on laughter being the best kind of medicine. And her recently released book is no exception to that rule. Taking a humorous look at bad dates, from the funny to the plain absurd, “He’s Not Prince Charming When ...” is a compilation of Luby’s personal experiences and the stories of others’ bad experiences, with a few exaggerated twists thrown in.
“Some of the things depicted in the book were funny when they happened, and some things became humorous after enough time (passed) and in perspective, because they might have been disappointing, awkward, uncomfortable or even painful when they really happened to me,” she said.
While Luby’s primary intent with this publication is to get some serious laughs, she also noted that there is a subtle message in the context on the topic of dating.
“I believe that the idea or notion of Prince Charming is something that fills girls heads from the time that we are little with all of the Disney stories,” Luby said. “And we grow up thinking we need this mythical man of our dreams to come and rescue us. I think it would be healthier and more realistic to think that we can find a person to be our partner in life, someone to love us as we love them. And perhaps we can rescue one another.”
The story behind the book started when Luby, ironically enough, was dating someone who was really into creating Top 10 lists. In a fleeting moment, they made a list of traits that contribute to a man’s inability to be Prince Charming. Luby unwittingly filed that list away, and a few bad dates and relationships later, when she decided to write a book, that list ended up being the inspiration behind the book and her brand, “He’s Not Prince Charming When ...”
Luby is quick to explain that this book would definitely not be classified as a “man-bashing” piece of nonfiction. Rather, she is hoping to share some laughter with all of her readers by striking a chord with a very familiar topic while also noting how important it is to be strong and independent — with or without a partner. Considering she has been doing improv for the past 10 years and has performed stand-up comedy for the past five, it would not be entirely wrong to say that she’s kind of an authority on the subject of laughter.
Whether you’re married, single, male or female, it is likely “He’s Not Prince Charming When ...” will be an easy and enjoyable read. The whole premise, along with all of the short stories in the book, comes down to one central theme: people and relationships. And, as Luby pointed out, we have to be able to laugh at ourselves first and foremost.
“It’s the kind of book you can keep on your coffee table or desk or nightstand, and even though you’ve read it, you can open it up to any page and know that you’ll laugh,” Luby said.
w
| Tweet | Follow @wkdr |
|
|
