The Dictionary of Failed Relationships

Book excerpt: FROM A TO Z—26 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER (OR HAVE HIM LEAVE YOU...) When Meredith Broussard celebrated her 26th birthday and realized that she’d survived exactly 26 failed romantic entanglements, she reckoned it was high time to dissect this topic that had filled her life with so much . . . angst. With the help of 26 of today’s hottest young female writers, Broussard gets to the heart of the matter. The Dictionary of Failed Relationships is a hip collection of stories, all shedding light on the wide range of emotions (from anger to melancholy to rage supreme) associated with love gone wrong. Ambivalence by Heidi Julavits • Berniced by Eliza Minot • Call-Hell by Amy Sohn • Dagenham by Anna Maxted • Etiquette by Thisbe Nissen • FAQ by Elizabeth Benedict • Green by Susan Minot • Honeymoon by Mary-Beth Hughes • Islands by Jennifer Macaire • Justice by Kathy Lette • Kid by Martha Southgate • LDR by Colleen Curran • Muay Thai by Rachel Resnick • Nightmare by Pam Houston • Orgasm by Darcey Steinke • Pain by Leslie Pietrzyk • Queer by Pagan Kennedy • Regret by Jennifer Weiner • Savage by Maggie Estep • Threesome by Dana Johnson • Underdog by Judy Budnitz • Vitriol by Shelley Jackson • Worship by Michele Serros • X by Suzanne Finnamore • Yuppie by Lucinda Rosenfeld • Zero by Erika Krouse With tales both deliciously sassy and heartbreakingly true, The Dictionary of Failed Relationships will leave you laughing, crying, or asking that one key important question: Ain’t love a bitch?