My Year of Really Bad Dates: A Memoir - Paperback

by Rachel Lithgow (Author)

For anyone who's ever gone on terrible date, a vulnerable memoir that explores dating in midlife after divorce, with bad dates--from terrible one-night stands to promising matches who ultimately disappoint--anchoring the theme of every chapter.

After two life-shaking events--losing her father and divorcing the man she's spent half her life with, who happens to be an actor from a famous family--Rachel Lithgow leaves a thirty-year career to write full time and pursue a relationship with a calming, delightful man she recently met online. She thinks she has it all figured out . . . until he announces he's joining a cult and moving to Phoenix with a blonde real estate agent.

Through a year of terrible dates, peppered with a few great experiences and a lot of pinot noir, the author learns that patterns can be changed, that asking for help is sometimes necessary, and that there's only one way to repair her brokenness: by facing her trauma and demons head-on.

With a unique mix of humor, self-deprecation, and gritty vulnerability, this dark yet hopeful memoir tackles divorce, dating, single motherhood, PTSD, grief, loss, and starting over in midlife. From emotional rock bottom to a peaceful acceptance of the woman she truly is, Lithgow finds the humor in the blackness, redemption in the pathos, and fulfillment in the idea that "happily ever after" isn't always a storybook ending--and doesn't need to be.

Author Biography

Rachel J. Lithgow is a historian and museum professional with thirty years of experience running large cultural institutions. Her work and writing have appeared in dozens of publications around the world, including The New York Times, The Daily News, Time, The Advocate, The Jerusalem Post, The Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Times of Israel, eJP, The New York Observer, and the Buffalo News. Rachel has two children and splits her time between Long Beach, Long Island, and Hell's Kitchen in New York City.