Five Men Who Broke My Heart : A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Cheap therapy
Review: In this memoir, Susan Shapiro says that she has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on therapy. As a lucky reader, I was able to mooch off of all of her sessions! Shapiro has had more problems with men than J. Lo, but unlike Ms. Lopez, she's not all uptight about talking to the media about it. That's probably because Shapiro IS the media--a freelance writer, to be precise--and her book reads like one of those great, chatty columns in the back of Sunday magazines that always ends too quickly, forcing you to flip back to the cover story on Donald Rumsfeld. Luckily, "Five Men" is a whole lotta pages, and how quickly they flew by for me! All of the "official" reviews provide great summaries, so I won't go there. I will say, however, that this is such a fun, honest, and well-written book. Seriously. I'm really not that enthusiastic a person, I just really liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Heart Breaking, Laugh-Inducing Work of Staggering Genius
Review: Susan Shapiro has the voice of a contemporary female Woody Allen -- she's written the long-overdue "High Fidelity" for women, fearlessly and hilariously accounting the true story of the relationships she's had with most important men in her life, from boyfriends to father to brothers to husband. She's tough on the men, but most critical of herself. Most of all, she proves to all women that the right relationship is worth working for and waiting for. Can't wait to see the movie!

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Summary: Slingbacks and Revelation Too
Review: The first thing that strikes you about "Five Men Who Broke My Heart" is Susan Shapiro's voice--rapidfire, witty, driven, knowing yet endearingly self-deflating. But I gradually realized how substantial, wise, and generous Shapiro's memoir is. I also came to appreciate its artful while seemingly artless structure. The dialogue is fresh. Zingers keep flying. ("We marry our dark side.") Shapiro brings to the page a colorful slew of real people that includes the five heartbreakers from her past, artsy New Yorkers who are a lot more interesting than most New Yorkers in books, and her large family in Michigan, whose members are no less intriguing. The storyline revolves around the "therapeutic" project of interviewing five exes at a particularly shaky period in Shapiro's married life. She asks the difficult questions, is sympathetic in a way she couldn't be back then, and finally sees her part in each breakup, growing in the process and renewing her attachment to her husband. Her "Love Chart" alone is worth the price of admission. Ultimately the book is a postmodern love story and paean to an unusual working marriage. It's also a peace offering to a too-intense family that said, "Go ahead, tell the world you're in therapy!" Shapiro's hard-won insights are worn lightly and with urban-femme style. Move over, Erica Jong!

Rating:
Summary: Good/bad? You decide
Review: I think the book was good and humorous, but I think I could have related better had I know the cast of characters. I'm sure the folks in her hometown will appreciate this novel. Her husband must be very secure in his manhood but very selfish to marry a woman who wants children, when he knows he is only trying to please her.

Rating:
Summary: Brave!
Review: An awesomely brave woman, this Susan Shapiro. And to write it all down and splay it all out for the public; bravery at its finest. This is the kind of book that I just did not want to end.

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Summary: What you bring to the table
Review: So much of what you find in a book is what you bring to it when you read it. I liked this book a whole lot--enough to recommend it to several friends because I thought it was a good example of looking honestly at your past to see how you got where you are now. Several times I wanted to shout at the young Susan, "Grow up and quit being so melodramatic!" But that's what I wish I could shout back through time at my own young self, as well. In the end, you are what you are, and what you've done has made you into the person you are today. I identified with Susan's propensity for choosing the wrong man and for shutting down good relationships for bad ones. She does grow up, though, and this walk through her youth was honest. She doesn't pull any punches, even for herself. It was very well written, if sometimes a little frustrating (it's really hard to watch people make mistakes in slow motion). If I had a daughter, I'd give her this and "He's Just Not That Into You" as good instruction manuals.

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Summary: Author revisits exes and probes why's of relationships
Review:
What a wonderfully zany idea--revisit your exes to probe the why's of your regret-filled relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed this book--laughing often, appreciating Ms. Shapiro's skipping along, witty style, and looking forward to her next roller coaster escapade.
Ms. Shapiro demonstrates exceptional emotional courage by revisiting her past loves in the first place, and then revealing the unraveling of her dilemmas in public. She is a gifted storyteller, artfully narrating the intimate, analytic story of her mid-life crises in a series of engaging, seriocomic vignettes.
Like most guys, I seldom read this type of book, so I can't make comparisons. But the premise sounds totally original and Susan Shapiro's candidness is remarkable. "Five Men..." is a treat, and seems a natural for a film.
Frank Schwartz

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely funny and honest
Review: Susan Shapiro is as fiercely funny as she is honest. In her re-visits with ex-lovers, she takes us on a journey we all have fantasized, but few would have the guts or emotional stamina to actually pursue. In reconsidering how the the men in her life jive with who she's become, what really emerges is a portrait of how we are all the sum of who and why we love. I began reading this book late one night and could not stop. FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART flows like an urgent, late-night phone call. Shapiro confides heartfelt dilemmas as if you're her most trusted friend, whom she'd rather cheer than burden. I highly recommend this lively tale of an indefatigable young romantic as she goes reeling towards maturity.

Rating:
Summary: Get on with your real life
Review: I found this book to be trite and simplistic. Sure, we all wonder about the ones that got away, but seriously, spending a summer tracking them down and detailing the flirtation is pretty lame. I definitely got the feeling this was a game of mind flirtation to ignore the larger real-time problems in her life.

Rating:
Summary: Get it, read it, and share it with your girlfriends
Review: I loved Sue Shapiro's memoir, FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART. This book is compulsory reading for every woman who ever wondered what really went down in those past relationships (in other words, for every woman). Shapiro tells her story openly and honestly and even gives her exes a forum for blasting her with their own memories of what happened between them. This is a moving and very funny account of a woman at a crossroads in her life and the journey that helps her understand how she became who she is, and by extension find peace with it. It reads a little like a mystery in that you just don't know until the end where her explorations will lead her--a real page-turner that drew me into her triumphs and setbacks. I also really loved the way the author was able to travel back to the first exhilarating days of each romance in such delicious detail. She captures perfectly the way it feels to ride in a boy's car, move away from away from home, experiment with clothes, and struggle to be accepted for who you are. I'm recommending FIVE MEN for all my female friends. I feel like the author has gone into this tempting but daunting arena for us and I want to share the stories she has brought back in her large black bag.