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Friday, May 7, 2010

READ THIS: HOW TO GET DIVORCED BY 30 My Misguided Attempt at a Starter Marriage A Memoir by Sascha Rothchild


Now, if you don't know that Sascha is funny, you might not realize that you should not take the title too seriously.  It is accurate, but after you read the book you will understand it in greater context.  You don't know where someone is going until you understand where they have been.

We know Sascha and we remember she is funny; we were at Boston College during the same time period.   She was in Hello Shovelhead as we recall, which is a group for funny people.  For the outsider without the prerequisite sense of humor, we think a good title for this book for those that take things more literally would be: How to Preserve the Quality of Your Life When It is Not Going in the Proper Direction; or: Life is too Short to Ever Smell Pot Again So Kick Him to the Curb; or: Don't Marry Anyone who Doesn't Know the 4 C's (come on, go to Rock Your Body if you are even wondering!) or Propose to You Properly.  And properly means with lots of Champagne (cliches don't bother us when they are Champagne), pledging undying love on his knees.  Forever.  And he better mean it.

If you are new to Whom You Know, you should be reminded that it is not maroon and gold by accident.  It is maroon and gold because we believe in Ever to Excel and all things Boston College.  When you read How to Get Divorced by 30, you'll learn that Sascha does not have the same undying love for Boston College that Peachy has (Sascha wanted to go to Yale like her father; Peachy wanted to get out of Connecticut and go to Boston College because of the hockey team), and she is an incredibly likable character that you will find yourself routing for early on in the memoir.  
Why?  She pursues excellence.  Her heart is in the right place.  She is honest about her insecurities and has enthusiasm for life.  We are glad for her that she, the upper, eventually got away from the downer, Jeff, the ex-husband character.  You must share Sascha's love for irony and we love her attention to detail.  She accumulates nothing, she makes lists, she has timelines and she's super organized.  At first you may wonder things like why do her parents want her to call them by their first names?  And why can kids be so mean with words like big fat ugly sausage?   And what is so bad about cliches?  You will find out.  And you'll also see how three little words can make a big difference; they really are QUITE a popular cliche.  We like them most in the book when they emerge on a yacht in Manhattan, like most great things should emerge!  If you think we're a little cryptic it is only because we are convincing you to read the book.

If you think your life has been colorful, you should consider Sascha's.  Sascha is indeed a character, in a good way.  Sascha's embracement of goth equals Peachy's code of preppy.  But as long as you don't forget the c in Sascha, at the end of the day everyone enjoys a good Bellini, even Susan.  That's Sascha's mother.  (Peachy just had an excellent one (or maybe 2) at Cipriani at yesterday's Women Who Care celebration.)

One of our favorite parts:
"If I was really cool and it was the end of a coming-of-age movie, I would have told both guys I needed to be alone.  I would have ended things for good with Adam and told Jeff I wasn't ready to begin anything new and both would have stood together and watched me as I walked down Sunset Boulevard alone, with the self-assuredness of someone who knows that with solitude comes maturity and growth."

One of the best parts about reading this is that you know it has a happy ending.  Sascha is now engaged.

This book is not only about marriage and what makes and doesn't make it successful; it is about Sascha and it is a memoir well-written.  Whom You Know Highly Recommends How To Get Divorced by 30 by Sascha Rothchild.

***
When author Sascha Rothchild realized the one person she didn’t want at her thirtieth birthday party was her husband, she knew the relationship was over. So, like hordes of others of her generation for whom starter marriages are as common as $5 lattes, they got divorced.  HOW TO GET DIVORCED BY 30 (A Plume Original / February 2010 / ISBN: 9780452295995 / $15) is Rothchild’s hilarious memoir about the ending of a marriage that should’ve lasted forever—or at least five years.
 
In the vain of Chelsea Handler and Laurie Notaro—and with wit, honesty, and moxie—Rothchild shares the stories that led to her short lived marriage.  From experiments with drugs to awkward first dates and horrible ex-boyfriends, nothing is off-limits.
 
Rothchild’s insightful and original voice will have readers laughing, crying, and rooting for her, and they’ll come away feeling as though they’ve made a new girlfriend.  Readers will relate to her frank and honest look into her relationships (see “Step 7: Think It’s Fantastic That Your Significant Other Doesn’t Object to You Attending a Party Without Him…at the Playboy Mansion”) just as they’ll laugh at her scripted vows, which omitted the word “forever”.
 
A story of love, loss, a flat-screen TV named Ruby, and plenty of misguided decisions; HOW TO GET DIVORCED BY 30 is a hysterically truthful look at what exactly “Till death do us part” means today.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sascha Rothchild grew up in Miami Beach where she did stuff. She then went to Boston College where she learned stuff and we are pleased to say we think we taught her about hockey there. Right after graduating with a concentration in playwriting, she moved to Los Angeles to begin her writing career and found there was a whole lot more stuff to do and learn. She is one of the original performers in the stage show Mortified and is published in Simon and Schuster’s Mortified book. Sascha is a television producer and writer and also periodically writes for LA Weekly, LA Times, Women’s Health Magazine and MSN. She keeps people entertained and offended with her weekly blogs on Politics Daily and Psychology Today Magazine. Sascha is currently in bed with Universal Studios to pen her latest feature film. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t consume, or wish she was consuming, frozen yogurt. Visit her website at www.sascharothchild.com.  We look forward to featuring Sascha as an upcoming Mover and Shaker!

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