ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
PLEASE GOD LET IT BE HERPES
If you ever felt smitten, heartsick, lovelorn, or just smacked in the face by Cupids cruel hand, this book was written for you. Carlos Kotkins hilarious memoir will make you feel better about the state of your love life because his is so much worse.
Michael Ian Black
My diagnosis: Carlos Kotkins Herpes will stay with you for a very long time. His remarkably singular voice seems to bubble forth from a truly quirky, shamelessly personal, and desperately deep comedic soul. This wonderfully offbeat book is a rare gift to the hopeless romantic in all of us.
Tony Shalhoub
Carlos Kotkin continues to have one of the most original, outlandishly funny minds.
Mark Johnson, producer of Rain Man and
The Chronicles of Narnia
Carlos Kotkin has a consistent ability to wring laughter out of everyday, seemingly simple situations through intelligent humor that oftentimes sneaks up on you before delivering knockout laughs.
Jim Vallely, writer/coexecutive producer
of Arrested Development
Carlos Kotkins stories are hilarious. Theyre heartfelt, memorable, and perhaps most importantly, they could only have come from Carlos.
Ben Wexler, writer/producer of Secret Girlfriend,
Still Standing, and The King of Queens
Carlos Kotkin writes stories that are genuine, funny, and endearing and somehow make me feel a little bit better about the world. Plus, theyre funny. I know I mentioned that already, but it seems important enough to mention multiple times. I would be happy to lose a weekend with a book written by him.
Jaclyn Lafer, producer of Sit N Spin
at the Comedy Central Stage
This is a hilarious, extremely satisfying, and poignant readwhether you are searching for love, have herpes, neither, or both. In fact, I couldnt put it down. Physically I could. But I didnt want to. Im not still holding it.
Myq Kaplan, comedian
The awkward, often horrifying misadventures of this seemingly normal man are hilarious. Carlos Kotkin is an engaging, original voice.
Elizabeth Beckwith, author of Raising the Perfect
Child Through Guilt and Manipulation
Carlos Kotkin is so funny. I would never go out with him.
Nadine Velazquez, actress
PLEASE GOD LET
IT BE HERPES
A HEARTFELT QUEST FOR LOVE AND COMPANIONSHIP
CARLOS KOTKIN
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, March 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright Carlos Kotkin, 2012
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
Kotkin, Carlos.
Please god let it be herpes: a heartfelt quest for love and companionship / Carlos Kotkin.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-57705-9
1. Kotkin, Carlos. 2. American wit and humor. 3. Dating (Social customs)Humor. I. Title.
PN6165. K68 2012
818.602dc23 2011033392
Set in ITC Giovanni STD
Designed by Alissa Amell
Printed in the United States of America
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
PUBLISHERS NOTE
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.
For courageous chickens across the globe
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Dear Readers,
Hello, Im Carloss mother. I am honored that Carlos asked me to write the introduction to his book. This introduction is going to be short because, to be honest with you, I dont really like introductions in books. They are a pain in the neck. Id rather go to the beginning of the book. I might read the introduction after I finish reading the book because I like to get to the nitty-gritty. Nowadays, you read a book before you get to the book and that irritates me. I think, Yeah, right, yeah. Ill come back to you later. I need to read the book. So go ahead and get to the book if you want. The dedications are for the people who they are dedicated to; they probably dont apply to you. The prefacethere isnt oneso you dont have to worry about that. Just go to the first official page and enjoy it.
If youre still with me, you have chosen a very interesting book. In this book, you will find Carloss history of datinghere, there, and everywhereas he looked for a nice girl to call his own. Carlos is my only son. I am very proud of him. He is a great writer. He is a great person. Through the years, I have tried to help him. He has had many troubles with dating and finding the right person. Like many of us, you need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince, or in his case, a princess that he can keep forever. To do that I have sent some girls his way, hoping that one of them will click. Some of the girls that I personally introduced to Carlos, I really thought they were the right girl and I could not understand why he didnt like them. A lot of the girls Carlos met on his own. I could see way far away from San Diego to Los Angeles that some of these girls were tushyholes and he should not be involved with them. They werent all crap; some of them must have been nice. I would best describe the girls Carlos has dated as a bouquet of flowers, of many varieties. Some of them were wilted. Some didnt smell very good. But you go onyou try to find the best rose in the garden. You get what you desire if you try hard.
The stories you are going to read are true stories. Names, places, and other things have been changed for the protection of the characters. I am not sure if Carloss full name is going to appear in this book, but if so I am going to change my last name. As far as my first name, you can call me Carloss mother. The title of the book is very creative; it is a good title. But when I tell my friends about this I am going to call it
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