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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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SAVE THE DATE

Jen Doll

The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest

Weddings. They’re fun, festive, and joyful, and at a time when people marry later in life—and sometimes not at all—weddings offer endless opportunities to reexamine love and what we want for ourselves, regardless of whether our aim is a walk down the aisle. In Save the Date, Jen Doll charts the course of her own perennial wedding guesthood, from the ceremony of distant family members when she was eight to the recent nuptials of a new boyfriend’s friends.
There’s the first trip home for a childhood pal’s big day, in which she learns that her first love has eloped to Hawaii. There’s the destination wedding attended with little baggage beyond a suitcase of strappy sandals and summery party dresses. Regrettably, there are weddings that mean the end to a valued friendship. There’s also the wedding that offers all the promise of new love. Wedding experiences come in as varied an assortment as the gowns at any bridal shop, and Doll turns a keen eye to each. Funny, honest, and affecting, Save the Date is a fresh and spirited look at the many ways in which we connect to one another.

From a fresh and exciting new voice, a hilarious and insightful examination of the search for love and the meaning of marriage in a time of anxiety, independence, and indecision.

Jen Doll has written for The Atlantic, The Atlantic Wire, Cosmopolitan, The Hairpin, New York magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Toast, Vice, and The Village Voice, among others. She has attended dozens of weddings and had pretty much every possible feeling about them. She lives in Brooklyn.
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Book

Published 2014-05-01 by Riverhead

Book

Published 2014-05-01 by Riverhead

Comments

Jen Doll makes her living as a freelance writer, but she might reasonably supplement that with stints as a wedding consultant: she has witnessed dozens of nuptials, more than most see in a lifetime,.. and they are chronicled with the sharply wielded wit that presumably got her invited to so many weddings in the first place. ...The memoir touches a cultural nerve, ultimately, because it summons, in unsparing detail, a cultural ritual as relentless as it is familiar: you’ve been there! Read more...

One of CNN Most Anticipated Book for 2014: Even if you couldn't care less about weddings -- and hate anything with pink and/or confections on its cover -- you still shouldn't sniff at prolific writer Jen Doll's book about wedding experiences and how they shape and re-shape definitions of love and commitment. If the topic doesn't grab you, Doll's wit likely will Read more...

Essay by the Author Read more...

Save the Date is a hilarious, open-eyed account of one woman's life as a wedding guest. Doll chronicles the good, the bad, and the drunken with wit and insight into the state of modern marriage.

Review and Q&A with Jen Doll: “ a meditation on the marriage ceremony and on how, by bearing witness, we shape our perspectives on love, friendship, and commitment.” Read more...

Reading Save the Date is like attending a wedding with the coolest plus-one ever. Jen Doll is witty, charming, and can see through all the BS of the wedding culture while still having a fun time with it.

In this delightful and smart collection of wedding-themed essays, the most important relationship isn't between the brides and grooms but between the guest and her dates, the bridesmaids and the brides, the wedding attendee and herself. With her whimsy and insight, it's the author who deserves a toast. Read more...

Refreshing take on society’s evolving ideas on marriage and the importance of knowing oneself.

Reading Save the Date feels a bit like chatting with a dear friend — but Doll’s confessional, conversational manner of writing is by no means flimsy or throwaway. Despite her very funny subject matter, Doll doesn’t balk at exploring the deeper emotions and philosophies that go into both wedding-throwing and party attendance…she never approaches the tough stuff with any measure of self-pity or overindulgence, and she remains remarkably clear-eyed throughout the entire book. Read more...

Save the Date, is no Katherine Heigl movie — it’s a smart examination of just how weird weddings can be when put under the microscope…The ultimate wedding party favor is a good story. Doll has several. Read more...

Jen Doll's sharp, funny true tales of guesthood acknowledge—at last—that attending other people's weddings is a unique rite of passage in itself. Save the Date is a welcome companion.

Jen Doll address relationships, romance, weddings, and love with the sharp and intuitive eye of a psychotherapist, and the impeccable comic timing of, well, an impeccably good comedian. Not only that, she coins a phrase that is not only brilliant, but important: ‘My unemployment jeans.’ Save the Date is a self-examination of the single gal at its cleverest, funniest best.