Please God Let it Be Herpes

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 13. FEB. 2012

Comedy Central regular Kotkin shares just the right amount of detail from his lifelong pursuit of a wife to make his first book a charming read. The author admits he's survived a "blundering and arduous journey of romantic misadventures," but without the parade of sometimes likable, occasionally crazy, but always fascinating females walking in and out of his life since 5th grade, this laugh-out-loud memoir wouldn't exist. An intimate mix of cynicism, dry humor, and matter-of-fact prose makes nearly every page funny. Despite the book's title inspired by Kotkin's brief relationship with a woman he met on the Internet the subtitle suggests that the author refrains from celebrating his lewdest encounters. While he engages in plenty of one-night stands, deep down, Kotkin just wants to find his soul mate, marry, and live happily ever after. (A gracious forward from his own mother asserts as much, and she assures readers, "You will not get herpes by reading this book, but you might get a stomachache from all the laughing.") It's a fantasy he finds more tempting than tawdry trysts with strangers or dalliances with a drunk Nordic blonde. This is a hilarious and unexpectedly empathetic take on one man's search for love that will appeal to those who've found it, and folks who are still looking.