Is it just me? Does everyone in the world have a fabulous GBF (Gay Best Friend) except me... And if so, where can I get one?
Dave Singleton argues that every woman needs a GBF - that's why his book is called Behind Every Great Woman There's a Fabulous Gay Man. But luckily for those of us who don't have our very own Stanford Blatch, Dave is happy to advise us on how to "avoid the pitfalls of the dating game, live stylishly and be even more fabulous than you already are." Which is nice.
The book is essentially a love and style guide for women from a gay man's perspective, divided into two parts: Dating, Men and Relationships and Style, Straight Talk and Self-Esteem.
Dave begins by talking about the importance of a male gay best friend for every straight woman, and about how wonderful his female friends are. Which is lovely for them, but doesn't help those of us without a GBF, now does it?!
There are some really interesting ideas in the first part of the book, such as looking at the part you play in your unsuccessful relationships - finding out where your love insecurities come from, and breaking self-destructive patterns. There are also useful and more light-hearted tips on checking if a man 'plays for your team' or not... The second part of the book is about appearance, plastic surgery and the like and is more superficial - although Singleton advises thinking about whether you're having a procedure done for your looks or your self-esteem, which is certainly good advice.
But a lot of the advice in the book seemed to be stretched a bit thin - I felt it was a bit repetitive and could probably have been squashed into a long feature article as I'm not sure there was enough here to build a book on. Some of the chapters in the second half of the book in particular just seemed there to make up the numbers, and didn't provide much useful insight - why it's okay to wear a short skirt to work, for instance. (Do we need to be told? And I'm still not gonna...) Plus, I couldn't help feeling that perhaps the idea for the book was a bit outdated - I mean, SATC is over and GBFs aren't exactly news. This book was only published in the UK this year, but in the US in 2005, which explains a lot.
It's witty, if not particularly original, and does contain some useful ideas, but may be one to skim rather than use as your style and dating 'bible'.
Rating: 3/5
Like this? Try Jane Austen's Guide to Dating by Lauren Henderson.
