Matchbook: The Diary of a Modern-Day Matchmaker

by Samantha Daniels

The head of the matchmaking service Samantha's Table documents a year of her personal and professional life, during which she attends to the needs of three colorful clients and dispenses a wealth of dating advice, from common first date mistakes to strategic timing tips. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Samantha Daniels is one of the foremost Professional Matchmakers and Dating experts in the country. She owns a bicoastal matchmaking service called Samantha's Table. She is ivy league educated, a former Divorce attorney by trade and she has an uncanny ability to know who goes well with whom. She has been responsible for over 250 people getting married and thousands of substantial relationships. She works with high profile People and Celebrities- matching them, advising them on their dating and helping them to find the one thing that is missing in their lives, that "one" person with whom to share it all. She is frequently relied upon dating, relationship and romance expert, and is seen regularly on-television, on the radio and in national newspapers and magazines. She has been a national spokesperson for a number of consumer brands including Crest, Oral B and Febreze. She was also the inspiration for and a producer on the NBC/Darren Star dramedy, Miss Match starring Alicia Silverstone, the show was based on her life story. Besides being the author of Matchbook: The Diary of a Modern-Day Matchmaker (Simon & Schuster), she also writes regularly for the Huffington Post and Forbes.com and she is a Celebrity Curator for Open Sky.

Samantha used all of the expertise that she accumulated by being in the Matchmaking/love/dating/relationship/divorce and romance industry for over 15 years to write Matchbook. Matchbook reads like chicklit with dating and relationship lessons all throughout. If you are looking for a “laugh out loud” read that will really hit home regardless of whether you are married, single or dating, Matchbook is the book for you.

Reviews

[Tatiana]

I'm sorry, I can't do it. I just can't.

This was recommended to me years ago and I finally got to it, but it has not aged well (ori. pub. 2005).

First of all, the cover put me off. People's heads kissing on matchsticks. What?

Secondly, a disclaimer AND an introduction?! 15 pages before page 1? No.

And third, a.k.a. the straw that broke the camel's back, a transsexual, heterosexual man enlisted the matchmaker's services and her response was horrifying. She called him ugly, she called a picture of his former self ugly, she admitted that she was frightened by him, and took a Valium after meeting with him because she was so shaken. I understand that her service was targeted to white rich people (most of whom were self-absorbed jerks), but her reaction was appalling by any standards.

I can't go on.

[T.e. Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

สนุกดีอ่านง่ายๆ เหมือนดู sex and the city ที่พาไปสำรวจสารพัดคนสารพัดปัญหา เรื่องการเดตและความสัมพันธ์ แต่ก็นะ นี่คือสังคมนิวยอร์ค (น่าจะ) คนขาว , ยุคที่ยังไม่ฮิตเดทผ่านแอพหาคู่ (ก็มันไม่มีไง ที่อยู่ในเรื่องก็ดูเหมือนจะมีแค่เจเดท) , สังคมชั้นสูง (ระดับนึง) มันมีความเฉพาะตัว ความคิด-มารยาท-วัฒนธรรมเดท (นึกถึงที่แครี่ใน satc แนะนำตัวว่านางเป็นนักมานุษยวิทยาทางความสัมพันธ์) ไม่ใช่ว่าจะใช้ได้กับทุกที่ และบางอย่างก็พอชวนให้คิดได้อยู่บ้าง เช่นเรื่องที่คนเราช่างติช่างเลือก แล้วก็ไม่ค่อยจะพูดหรือยอมรับกันตรงๆ แบบตรงไปตรงมา โดยไม่ผ่านมือที่สาม(หมายถึงกาวใจอย่างแม่สื่อในเรื่อง) มันไม่ค่อยจะมีพล็อตอะไร เพราะเล่าไปเรื่อยๆ ขนาดที่อ่านไปจนจบแล้วยังไม่รู้ว่านี่คือหน้าสุดท้ายแล้ว รวมๆแล้วก็อ่านเพลินๆบันเทิงดี

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is remarkably dated. It has not aged well over the past 15 years.

Do you want to be a voyeur and observe the dating attitudes of a very small demographic (i.e., wealthy, privileged, heteronormative white NY residents)? Do you need something to read in the bathroom? Are you not already bored by this kind of cultural narcissism? Then this is the book for you. Within the first chapter, there is an embarrassingly myopic and nearly bully-like description of a trans person who comes to the author to ask if she can help him. Can you tolerate this? If so, then read on.

Uh - why did I read it? My friend gave me her copy after I told her I had just read "He's Just Not That Into You" (similarly dated, but not quite as irritating as this book). There are data and messages of empowerment to be gleaned from either of these books, but this book does more harm in terms of perpetuating some very dated viewpoints.

Hooray!

[Eli Pollack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light and entertaining. She is a decent storyteller.

[Winke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anno 2021 lees ik dit boek met gefronste wenkbrauwen. Ik vond het niks.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. This was a fascinating read, but all too frequently it was also an irritating one.

Matchbook tells about the early start and subsequent flourishing of a matchmaking business called Samantha’s Table, founded by the real woman who was the basis for Alicia Silverstone’s character on her extremely short-lived show, Miss Match. I never watched the show, but I’m guessing that Alicia Silverstone didn’t play her as shallow bitch, although if she did, that might explain the program’s early death.

Basically, Samantha Daniels was a lawyer and New York party girl who started fixing people up for exorbitant sums of money. By the time the book closes, she’s charging $10,000 a client for her services. For this she counsels you, offers date coaching and tips, fixes you up, and sets you up on six first-time dates. And rich, shallow New Yorkers line up to pay her, even though some of her advice seems dubious to me and there are no guarantees. However, in my more charitable moments, I concede that dating is always a shallow venture, no matter how you wind up out with somebody; the deep part of it comes later after you’ve stopped calling it “dating” and renamed it a “relationship.” So maybe the author isn’t all bad. And her tips do help you to think more strategically about your dating goals, whether that’s to find fun or a campaign to locate “the One.”

But your tolerance for her business practices will probably vary based on how likely it is that you would make the cut as one of her “Desperados.” When she champions her clients and rants about how people who, for one reason or another, fall back on dating services to find a lifemate should not be written off as losers, I cheer her on. When she talks about specifically gearing her service so that potential clients know they can count on her to set them up only with “quality” people and not “undateables,” I want to gouge her eyes out with the tip of one of her own Manolo heels.

[jessica wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since I am a Human Development student I am always interested in the what and how of people in all aspects. A book on a matchmaker sounded muy interesting to me. The writing so far is eh and the author's ideas of people and dating comes across as so "COSMO" to me. What I mean is a little close minded and focused on attractiveness, money and job (ooh, what kind of car does he drive?). Not my type of people but I'm still reading it so it is obviously a wee bit entertaining.

[Chanel Baron · Rating 2 out of 5]

1) I don't think Daniels put much/ any effort into making her writing high quality because the whole time I was reading this I felt like some airhead/valley girl was just gossiping to me about her friends' dating lives; 2) it's amazing that she makes so much money at her business that does not seem to require much talent, just loads of contacts; 3) it was funny, but I think it could have been much more hilarious; 4) I definitely wouldn't take dating advice from her.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really cute and puts a reality check on those who want to find Mr. or Mrs. Perfect. Not everyone is "perfect" because we are human. However, it's funny to read what the matchmaker clients "think" they are looking for and who they end up falling in love with via the aid and coaching of this matchmaker. Definitely a good read.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's fluffy and light and reads like a true-life version of "Sex and the City." Samantha Daniels is a divorce lawyer who decides she'd rather be a matchmaker. The book discusses all of her love matches and some of her very interesting clients. It's a very fun read.

[Neeraja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read, i read it in one day - an hour at the gym and another hour after dinner (but I'm a fast reader). Nothing mind-blowing or poignant, just a light chick-lit type memoir. I did want to know what happens at the end though...sounds like the setup for a sequel!

[Christiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a lot of fun! I was not crazy about her italicized inner thoughts, but it was still a really fun worthwhile read. I am totes voyeuristic about other people's dating lives and quirks. This will probably make you feel like you are ace at first dates.

[Luisa Huang · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice fluffy chick lit....not thinking required

[Sari Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable light read, this memoir comes across more as chick-lit than literature. It could have benefited from a better writer or more self-aware narrator, but it was still a fun read.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so fun and entertaining. Any girl can appreciate! Fast read!

[Mary Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was a cute picture of the matchmaking world. I really liked the personal stories included amongst the tales of "desperados". Its a great quick read for a weekend of travel.

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, seasonal read!

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sex and the Cityesqe. Not a serious read but a good chick lit read.

[Shawn Riegsecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was like vacation porn reading for me. :)

[Liza Geduldig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great beach reading; easy and funny.