PRAISE FOR
ITS NOT YOU
Its Not You masquerades as self-help, but its really a manifesto, a radical declaration of truths that shouldnt be all that radical but somehow are nonetheless. Sara Eckel does what no one writing about singleness has yet had the guts to do. She points out that coupling up is often nothing more than a matter of luck and that conventional wisdom about love is no substitute for real wisdom about lifesomething she has in spades.
Meghan Daum, author of My Misspent Youth
Finally! Someone said it: Being single does not mean youre broken. Thank you, Sara Eckel, for speaking up and turning the tables on anyone who dared point their needling finger at poor old singletons negotiating the process of looking for love. Its Not You is a smart and sane respite from the incessant chatter of relationship self-help that places the single person in the middle of a perpetual makeover project. Eckel deftly argues why you dont need any of it, and shell make you think about dating in an entirely new light. Her book is fresh, relatable, funny, and empowering, and Im only one percent mad at her for not writing it sooner. Mostly, I just want to hug her, and so will you.
Rachel Machacek, author of The Science of Single
Debunking the myths and well-meaning advice lobbed onto single women today, Sara Eckels Its Not You is like soothing guidance from a best friend in book form. Fearless, funny, and wise, its a reminder to single women everywhere that the best antidote to the overwhelmingly negative dating feedback that prevails is self-compassion.
Ava Chin, Urban Forager columnist and author of Eating Wildly
Sara Eckel has composed an electrically charged response to a world still eager to tie a womans value to her marital status. Its Not You is a thorough and thoughtful debunking of the myths of blame routinely foisted on women who have not (yet or ever) found mates. Eckel is funny, compassionate, and righteously resistant to the lies women are told about how personal shortcomings have damned them to singlehood, while smartly standing up to assumptions that theres anything wrong with unmarried life to begin with.
Rebecca Traister, author of Big Girls Dont Cry
Its Not You is a funny, thoughtful, and long-overdue response to every well-intentioned tool who insists single women are single because theyre too something: picky, available, desperate, intimidating, nice, negative, attractive, or, I dont know, averse to clog dancing. Instead, she assures us were fine. The only problem? We simply havent met the guy of our dreams yet.
Diane Mapes, author of How to Date in a Post-Dating World
Sara Eckel counters prevailing myths about dating and marriage, and offers solace and very helpful advice to those who feel pained by prolonged singlehood. Above all, this book will resonate with readers because of the way she shares her own struggling, vulnerable heart.
Gabriel Cohen, author of Storms Cant Hurt the Sky
Part Buddhist teacher and part social critic, Sara Eckel tells single women what we older-to-marry folks wish we could go back to say to our own younger self-doubting unmarried selves.... This book is a refreshing study of women realizing the best potential of feminism: to realistically accept both the challenges, and the triumphs, of living life on ones own terms.
Paula Kamen, author of Her Way, All in My Head, and Finding Iris Chang
A PERIGEE BOOK
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright 2014 by Sara Eckel
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eckel, Sara.
Its not you : 27 (wrong) reasons youre single / Sara Eckel. First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-399-16287-9 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-1-101-60643-8 (eBook)
1. Single people. 2. Single women. 3. Man-woman relationships.
4. Interpersonal relations. I. Title.
HQ800.E254 2014
302dc23 2013032620
First edition: January 2014
Text design by Laura K. Corless
Portions of this book appeared in a different form in the New York Times and Self magazine. For the subjects privacy, some names and identifying details have been changed.
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication.
Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Version_1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?
We met in a bar in Brooklyn, a hipster version of an old Italian social club. He was nice-enough-looking, a bit grayer and heavier than his profile picture, but no doubt so was I. We chatted about the neighborhoodthe dog park we liked, the Asian fusion restaurant we were sorry was closingand gave each other vital statsyears lived in New York, number of brothers and sisters.
How long has it been since your last relationship? he asked, his voice clipped, a dental hygienist inquiring about my flossing routine.
Three years, I lied. The truth was closer to six.
He leaned back, looking at me in a cool and curious way, like I was a restaurant with too few customers, a house that had been listed too long.
Whats wrong with you? he asked.
I dont know, I said.
But youre attractive? he asked, as if he wasnt sure anymore. As if I could help him out with this.
I dont know what to tell you, I said. I dont know why.
Of course, I was outraged. I finished my ginger old-fashioned. I said I had to get up early. But in truth, his question was no worse than the one I asked myself nearly every day. It wasnt full-blown self-loathing, more a feeling that snuck up unawares, a hollowness that hit me in the chest at certain timesa long subway ride home from a mediocre date, a Sunday-night phone conversation with a married friend who suddenly says she has to go, her husband just took the roast out of the oven.
Why was I unable to find the thing that mattered to me most? I was trying so hardobeying the incessant drumbeat to get out there, dutifully mining my psyche for any emotional blockages that might be preventing me from finding lifelong love. I took hour-long commutes to attend the birthday parties of coworkers friends and went to the midnight shows of college acquaintances bands. I spent countless hours and dollars on yoga, gym memberships, and other forms of personal maintenance. And yet, there it was. I was a woman in her late thirties, alone. What was wrong? What was wrong with
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