Home Page

Autobiography / Biography   Travel / Places   Cooking / Food   Other / General   Crafts / Home Improvement   Humor

The Year of Yes - A Memoir
by Maria Dahvana Headley
Hyperion Books
ISBN 1-4013-0230-0
Published January 2006 - Hardcover - 275 pages - $22.95

Ms. Headley doesn't seem to have had much hassle getting dates, which in itself isn't bad, but like so many women, couldn't find the right guy.  I applaud her for not settling for second-best and for persevering.  This very funny and enlightening book will ring a bell in many a dating woman's head - she decided to say yes to every date she was asked out on, for a year, to see what transpired.  Intellectually way more out there than the average person (she's extremely well-read), which alone would scare off zillions of men who are threatened by a woman with a brain, she's a gutsy woman.  We are let into her dating life and she shares with us the winners and losers she came across in the Big Apple by saying yes to all suitors.  While the writing is good and witty, the subject matter becomes a little droll after a while, and I found myself thinking "how boring" sifting through so many men, finding oneself in bed with strangers (not a judgment call and she didn't bed every one of them), yet still so alone.  How she managed to get her studies done (she was a student at NYU), I don't know.  This is not, I don't think, how most women weed the weak from the strong - it's too much like hard work!  Her deprecating and humorous approach is wonderful.  There's a nice ending.
Conclusion - Quite funny and observations, and experiences, galore.