Book Review: The Longest Date; Life as a Wife by Cindy Chupack

The Longest Date by Cindy Chupack is a fun read. 

Chupack was a writer and executive producer for TV series Sex and the City, for which she won three Golden Globes and an Emmy.  Chupack is currently writing a pilot for The Longest Date (for Fox).

In The Longest Date Chupack tells the story of her marriage and quest for a baby.  Not exactly despairing of her lack of romantic engagement at the book’s beginning (but wondering), Chupack meets Ian, a bad boy, at a bar.  They leave together after his date goes home alone.  Chupack expects that at best he’ll be a fling but decides that her romantic dry spell makes such a reality more acceptable. 

They fall in love, get married but then have a hard time conceiving a child.  Ian ends up evolving into a great husband, though the relationship isn’t always smooth.

Chupack is funny, deprecating (not always just about herself) and writes vividly.  Her personality really shines through her text so we feel, as with Sex and the City, that we’re chatting with a girlfriend, not reading a book.  And she’s willing to look bad, open her heart fears and engage.

I’m at a different stage in the domestic process as my kids are heading into their teens so baby making is no longer top of my mind.  But I enjoyed the book anyway and really, frankly, couldn’t put it down.  While the events addressed could be trite, Chupack had a novel and fun way of discussing them.

I will point out that sometimes this style of writing can go very wrong.  Visiting a sex show in Thailand with her husband, Chupack states that after a while she starts to feel that they were the ones being exploited.  Given that many women filling such roles are actual prisoners being forced to work in the sex trade, Chupack’s attempt at humor here not only falls flat, it’s in bad taste.

Overall, I still really enjoyed the book and recommend it.  The light, breezy style makes the book a quick and easy read.  I ended up feeling for Chupack and rooting for her and Ian in their quest to add a baby into their life.  Her honesty about how difficult that process was, along with her difficulties adjusting to being married, will likely touch many others as they did me.

Get the book and watch the series, especially if you are going through similar life changes.  I’m not and still loved being along for the ride.