Mini-View: Date Expectations - Paul Reizin

Date Expectations tells the hilarious true story of some of the most disastrous dates in the history of courtship, as Paul sets out on an increasingly fraught quest to leave singledom behind ... These include the date with the psycho hippy nutter; the date who didn't turn up; the world's shortest date; and the date with a face like a bag of spanners.

Learn to interpret the secret language of the lonely hearts columns (e.g. 'bubbly' = fat). Learn how to read between the lines of a recorded message - fine tune your radar for those tell-tale references to cats and anger-management classes. And much, much more ...

Remember - blind dating is like life. By the time you've learned how to do it properly, you no longer need to . . .

Having just moved I've come across a box full of second hand books that clearly caught my attention at one point but that I never managed to quite get round to reading, wanting something a bit easy to settle down with I plucked Date Expectations off of the top of the pile.

Date Expectations is one of those true stories where every detail has been changed to safeguard the identity of those that appear therein, despite what I'm sure is the occasional exaggeration the book still has that awkward ring of truth about it that keeps you hooked, hoping for that happy ending. I wouldn't have said that Date Expectations was 'un-putdownable' and yet I stayed up most of the night reading it.  Reizin has an easy writing style that does draw you in; a keen eye for observational comedy that perhaps veers towards being too sharp on occasion, the book is a definite 'easy read'. 

Reizin certainly has a way with words and the book was undoubtedly amusing, however, the conclusion seemed altogether too rushed and the plot (such as it is) fizzled out towards the end. I'm unsure exactly what we're supposed to take away from Reizin's experiences but the book provided a few hours of entertainment nevertheless.

Date Expectations is an easy, humorous read with a happy ending and there's not much more that you can ask for. Reizin's account of his voyage through the lonely hearts is a read I'd recommended, especially if you're just after a light book with a few laughs.