I Can't Believe I'm Still Single: Sane, Slightly Neurotic (but in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little ... Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football
by Eric Schaeffer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Eric SchaefferEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-25
ISBN: 1568583370
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Running Press
Book Reviews of I Can't Believe I'm Still Single: Sane, Slightly Neurotic (but in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little ... Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football
Book Review: A singleton's lament, or a whack job's rant?
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm a forty-something never-married man that bought this book solely because of the title. However, I didn't start reading it until after the recent kick-off episode of the companion TV series' second season on Showtime. I enjoyed watching the show's first go-around last year, so I figured it was time to burrow into "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single" for deeper insight into Eric Schaeffer's colorful psyche. After finishing his tale, I must say that the term "wild and crazy guy" doesn't begin to scratch the surface.
We first encounter the hapless author in his early forties as he meets April, a woman that his gut later tells him to flee from. Even so, he gamely tries to make the relationship work, and we follow his wordy efforts throughout the book as we get some back story. Mr. Schaeffer's early years are defined by addictions to food, sensuality, drugs, and alcohol. Romantic attachments crash and burn throughout his twenties and thirties as he sobers up, discovers yoga, drives a cab, churns out screenplays, and gets some acting gigs. He finally achieves a bit of show business success, but true love constantly eludes him.
Despite some slow spots and disturbing anecdotes, I enjoyed the book as a whole and found myself rooting for the author due to his TMI level of honesty and dogged attempts to pursue his dual dreams of filmmaking and finding a soul mate. However, he's hampered personally and professionally by some serious relational issues and personality foibles. The manic OCD energy he displays on his TV show arcs through the pages like a shock treatment session. His admitted battles with sensory excess and naked insecurities cripple all attempts at lasting intimacy, most tragically when he manages to meet a woman who might actually be right for him. Indeed, even a casual reader will be able to say with conviction, "I can believe that Eric Schaeffer is single." And that's even before making it to the XXX-rated dominatrix episode.
Mr. Schaeffer reminds me of an eccentric, fiercely extroverted woman I hung out with in Spain who would boldly talk to everyone in earshot, and after a couple of sentences people would either laugh or run away. One of those responses will probably typify your reaction to "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single." You'll either tolerate the author's weirdness (even the icky parts) and try to see the best in him, or toss the book aside in disgust and write him off as a sick loser who shouldn't be allowed to reproduce. I found myself more in the former category, despite having a hard time identifying with his overabundance of personality and lurid proclivities. I guess I can't help but root for the underdog.
In the end, all I can do is send a "Namaste" in his direction and wonder if there is any chance of marriage for him as he nears fifty. Stranger things have happened. Recently a friend of mine described his never-married quirky brother (who happens to be around Mr. Schaeffer's age) to a woman. Her diagnosis: "Well, he just needs a girl that is quirky like him and I'm sure there is one out there for him." Based on "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single," I have to say that her scenario is most likely the last, best hope for the author. That, I can relate to.
More I Can't Believe I'm Still Single: Sane, Slightly Neurotic (but in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little ... Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football reviews:
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