He Loved Me, He Loves Me Not: A Guide to Fudge, Fury, Free Time, and Life Beyond the Breakup

by Lynn Harris, Chris Kalb (Introduction)

Breaking up was never so much fun. Whether the reader is the dumper or the dumpee, Harris knows what they're going through--loneliness, guilt, resentment, second thoughts, and at least a few glimmers of relief and freedom. The perfect pick-me-up for the jilted everywhere, He Loved Me, He Loves Me Not shows readers that when it comes to breakups, there's nothing wrong with wallowing in one's own misery, seeking a little revenge, or eating onself into oblivion.

223 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

Lynn Harris is author of the comic novel DEATH BY CHICK LIT, along with its prequel, MISS MEDIA, and several non-fiction books including BREAKUP GIRL TO THE RESCUE! She is also co-creator, with Chris Kalb, of the venerable website BreakupGirl.net. An award-winning journalist, she writes frequently for Glamour, Salon.com, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Nerve.com, Babble.com, and many others. She also wrote TabletMag.com's "The Rabbi's Wife" column, from experience. Her essays are included in many anthologies as well. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and young daughter and son."

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious, with lots of comic-book-style illustrations of absurd breakup situations. Yay! My favorite part so far is a series of postcards to send during the moratorium on communication with your ex. One has a picture of a person falling off a cliff and says "Wish you were here!" Yes! Make me laugh!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best friend from high school mailed this to me after I went through my first college breakup. At the time I thought it was hilarious and life-changing. I recently went through the most difficult split of my life (I would say "to date" but I'm certainly hoping I never have to go through this experience again) and pulled this from my shelves to re-read it. I thought it would be like comfort food but also a callback to a person I was before, which would be interesting.

It's not as funny as I remember. It's super hetero-normative. I like that between chapters there are little quizzes, as fake as they are there's a HINT of realism and truth in them, and then, like, if you only get 1/3 or 2/3 "right" on the quizzes, it basically says "You're not really ready to move onto the next chapter yet" in some comical way. Like, it's actually leading you through a process.

In that case... I probably should still be re-reading the first 2-3 chapters obsessively but, whatever. I read this (again) this year. It was OK but not as great as I remembered. I hope I never have cause to read it again. The end.