You Don't Love This ManDan DeWeese, 2011
I always cringe a little when I hear, "Write what you know," because I feel like there are probably many wonderful stories we're missing out on about the things people don't know. But "Read what you know"--that I can get behind. Words mean so much more to me when they feel like they were written to me, or about someone just like me.
So why, when I read this book, did I feel the whole time that it was baring my own soul? I'm not a middle-aged man. I didn't get a girl pregnant at age 17. My daughter isn't getting married to my old friend. Yet somehow, I felt the slow, numbing thought process of a man who is looking back on his life and wondering not how he got to where he is today, but whether another outcome could have been possible.
I know why, of course. It's because good writers can make you feel however they want to; in this case, I'm a divorced father who isn't sure he's doing a very good job at his life. Depressing concept, sure, but a pretty enjoyable read.
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