It turns out that Jules Asner was on E! for for-freakin-ever, but I didn’t know that until I’d gotten about two-thirds of the way through. She’s also married to Steven Soderbergh. That makes this quote particularly amusing:
“She told me that Soderbergh likes to shoot really quick…”
It’s actually mildly suggestive in context too – I’m not being extra-plus dirty minded. Just the normal amount.
Anyway. Whacked is about Dani, a television writer in Hollywood. She has Dave, her seriously jackass boyfriend and the usual chick-lit assortment of secondary male hangers on, any of whom would make a better boyfriend than Dave. She has fewer girlfriends than you’d expect from a book like this. What she lacks in girlfriends, she makes up for in pure stalker psychosis.
She regularly reads Dave’s email and checks his voicemail. She goes through his pockets and does drive-bys of his house. Once they break up (which trust me, you saw coming from the second page), she starts to do the same to guys she has been on ONE DATE with. She has a fake friend that she uses to throw off the real friends that she does have – usually so she can stalk someone.
The thing is… I wouldn’t check my boyfriend’s email. Ok, there was that one time in college, but now I def wouldn’t check my boyfriend’s email. That’s not to say I don’t understand the thought process that gets her to the email checking, drive-by doing stage. Some of the things that come out of her brain make a frightening amount of sense. For example:
“I could see a stack of phone messages from work, next to where he always put his keys and wallet. I picked up the stack and started leafing through them. It never hurt to check and see if there was one girl who called a bunch of times. Or if the message was from a girl and instead of leaving her number when she called, as assistant had written, “You know it”.”
Right? I mean yes, a little obsessive, but it sorta makes sense. If you think your guy is hot, chances are good someone else will think so too. What if someone else is stalking him and you have to metaphorically pee on him?
That’s what makes it a little scary when it goes from chick-lit to something a little more… whacked. She took me with her into the normal day to day craziness, and I was with her at least part of the way into the melt down of an everyday woman.
I dug it. It’s a quick read. Very pool/beach/airport worthy.
Eight cupcakes (out of ten).
