Description: There's something universal in these tales of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the dating life, peopled as they are with well-intentioned boys-next-door, two-timing playboys, and traveling roustabouts with a girl in every town. Meet Bob Petronick, responsible for Mom's first arrest. Get the real story behind winking Bob Wills, of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Or perhaps you'd like to hear why a young woman would feel obliged to see "The Eddie Cantor Story" six times in one week. But Leveridge can -- and does -- hold forth on many topics, including his decidedly contrarian view of the holidays (from Valentine's Day to Arbor Day) and his hilarious skewerings of television ads (haven't you noticed that Saturn ads make it look more like a cult than a car company?).

Like the best of our current essayists and storytellers -- Roy Blunt, Jr., David Sedaris, Garrison Keillor, Sandra Tsing Loh -- Leveridge manages at once to be forward-thinking and nostalgic. With his happy knack for taking a common place topic and veering off into uncharted territory, and his enormously appealing voice, there's no doubt that there's a broad audience out there for this wacky, charming book.

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