Books for a summer’s day
Food for the brain, the soul and the stomach, Maddy Phillips selects three of the best.
Sex and the Single Girl: The Unmarried Woman’s Guide to Careers, the Apartment, Diet, Fashion, Money, and Men, by Helen Gurley Brown
Sex and the Single Girl was first published in 1962. Its author, the late Helen Gurley Brown, was a Cosmopolitan editor (in the era when that magazine actually had some social significance) and was roughly as fabulous as a 60s version of Samantha Jones.
Now, you might think that following the teachings of a 60-yearold dating and self-help guide would lead a person just a little astray in the modern dating landscape. You would be completely right.
However, the brilliance of Sex and the Single Girl for the 2019 reader is not the actual content of Gurley Brown’s brisk directives, although some of them remain surprisingly relevant many years on (she dispatches the relationship dynamic with womanising ‘‘Don Juan’’ types as follows: ‘‘You know all the time he is unworthy of you – ruthless and sadistic in his boyish way – but you are too hooked to do anything about it.’’)
What is so wonderful about the book is Gurley Brown’s wry, spry enthusiasm for the sheer scope and variety of the dating experience. This is an extended pep talk on the glory of singledom, delivered by the world’s most fabulous, worldly, mysteriously wealthy aunt.
Of course, given its vintage, some portions of the book are best read with horrified detachment. Ignore everything Gurley Brown says about weight (‘‘Lose every ounce of baby fat. It only ever looked good on babies’’) and homosexuality.
The stuff about feigning interest in certain sports to attract men must be disregarded: that is a prescription for endless hours spent watching the visual chloroform that is test cricket.
But! So much of it is feminist gold, and highly entertaining feminist gold at that. All so much more remarkable when you consider the era in which Gurley Brown was writing. And in other ways the book’s age only adds to its charm: Nigella Lawson – a Lindor ball in human form, and author of a perfect summer read. ‘‘little green ribbon knits’’ are worn and Crepes Strawberry are eaten by the women featured, and there is a total absence of the words ‘‘Tinder’’ and ‘‘Bumble.’’
Gurley Brown’s unabashed enthusiasm and optimism is a literary espresso for the jaded singleton. I am entirely confident that you will love Sex and the Single Girl. So confident that if you aren’t gripped within the first 15 pages I promise to submit to a full week of Gurley Brown’s ‘‘A Diet Men Like’’: a terrifying regime of a small portion of steak paired with a single chilled white wine, to be consumed three times per day.
Feast: Food that Celebrates Life, by Nigella Lawson
In many ways, these are the best of times. For example, Lime scooters exist.
In many, many other ways, these are the worst of times. For example,