Publish the one about the woman whose BF/husband won't talk dirty to her.... and Cary did instead! Loved it.

...like all the rest of them.

Really, I'd love to see the one from the guy who fancied himself in love with a prostitute - I do love seeing our normally mild-mannered, dreamy, poetic Cary in a righteous rage!

Although I can browse the columns one by one, I haven't been able to get any Since You Asked column to come up using the Salon Search tool. This is making it hard to find old favorites. I have gone so far as to take text from columns and paste it into the search box, but nothing.

I agree that yesterday's was a keeper.

The fairly early one about from a girlfriend being asked to be in a threesome was memorable. Something about 'an angel gets its wings in heaven'.

There was one with a fantastic description of the mind of an alcholic that MUST go in this.

The talk dirty one was great too.

Where a woman was seeing a man that lived in a seperate city and he refused to let her see where he lived and she wondered what she should do.

Also a follow up on the guy who did the long distance thing with his college sweetheart and wants her back but she's dating someone else.

I think what would make the book an absolute must-have for all the readers who love this column... how about trying to contact the people whose letters will be included, to include an update on their situation? That way it includes some fresh material. Great idea! I am going to comb through the archives now. :-)

I agree with the poster who suggested yesterday's column. That one's a keeper. :-)

Yep, 3 great ideas I hope to include: Meta comments -- perhaps a short essay; followups, including, I hope, checking in with the charming woman who didn't know where her boyfriend lived (remember her? I got the story, but could get an update); and, yes, this did occur to me, too: Worst letter, worst column (thanks, I appreciate it, but you don't need to spend too much time on that!)

Please include the letter (and especially the reader responses)to an entry that showed up in late August I think from the introverted person who just wanted to be accepted as she was. That letter generated some really excellent discussion!

Excellent idea to publish, Cary & good luck!

I vividly recall two reponses (or at least the parts thereof) one of which I've even kept on my PC to refer back to.

Excerpting from 4-21-05 on Fires (which really was about fixing family issues)"If we do not possess the skills necessary to rush into a burning house and rescue the people, we're probably best off not attempting it . . . Nevertheless, [if] you find yourself taking an unplanned journey into the family hellhole, you ought to prepare for it with rigorous self-examination. "

and (what I consider a true classic but darned if I can find it)where you wrote about a relationship being like a sweater. It was old and faded and torn, but you loved it for how it changed. That's how I remember it anyway.

And yes - the lost wedding ring, yesterday's column and the dirty talk were also classics worth bookizing.

Ian

pretty much any post by me would add a lot of value.

Also, if you want to sell this thing, include as many letters about female pubic grooming as you have received.

In fact, make that the theme of the book and say so in your book's title.

... has always been the August 10, 2005 letter, "My boyfriend broke up with me but now I see him everywhere I go."

Your response, Cary, painted such a vivid picture, I saved it, thinking it would make a marvelous monologue or scene for an audition someday. Except I don't act, and so don't have much occasion for auditioning. Still, I plan on committing it to memory, just in case I ever have an ex with a "shiny suit and magic shoes" whom I need to publicly humiliate.

The Lone Cow!

I still send it to my single friends.

For someone you don't like.

Oh, it's a boring book of snivelling, self-absorbed whining questions and pompous responses that tangentially address them, at best. You shouldn't have. Really -- you shouldn't have.

Cary, put in the "I'm a wealthy new mommy and I want to buy an expensive stroller, but, waaaaah" one. That's my favourite; it best illustrates what you and your loathsome correspondents are all about.

...too bad they're not mine. :)

Seriously, though, please do consider getting updates from the LWs to whom you responded, if possible, to see how it all worked out; fleshing out some of the original letters that you edited for content (the one whose friends wouldn't let her die was one, but there were others); and DEFINITELY include some reader responses! The write-ins have been absolutely *brilliant* at times. And please do not restrict yourself to the red-starred entries: I think rereading the responses afresh will serve you better, as we tend to see more and differently with the passing of time.

Also, Cary -- and you already know this, but I am throwing it in for your consideration -- when you go back to select articles for publication, the ones you worked on the hardest are NOT necessarily the best. I know that you have agonized over many of them, and thrown your heart and soul and the kitchen sink into more than a handful, but that deep involvement and sacrifice of soul -- while absolutely wonderful and appreciated!!! -- is a measure of YOUR best, not the best articles. It would be great if they were one and the same, but alas, not necessarily so, not for any writer. I say this, gentle Author, with all sincerity and kindness.

I will look through the archive this weekend if I can -- there are some great classics there, and some that still stick in my mind years later. I think it's great that you're finally getting to publish your dream book... even if it wasn't the Great American Novel you once thought it was going to be. Congratulations!!!