Writer Justin Halpern, whose explosively popular Twitter feed @shitmydadsays grew into a bestselling book and a television series, mines the stories of his youth again for the new memoir I Suck at Girls. This time the focus is Halpern’s own coming of age and early experience (or lack there of) in the dating world. “I just felt like there were a lot of books for people that score with the ladies all the time, and then there are a lot of books for people that were total social outcasts who really went through a lot just to live a normal life. And I didn’t feel like there was a lot of that in between, where I felt most people fell, including myself, and I was like, you know what? People share way more embarrassing stories than these. Maybe I can just give them something that makes the common person feel like they have a kindred spirit,” says the author in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, explaining the inspiration for the book. Read more…

When writer Justin Halpern moved back into his parents’ house after the breakup of his relationship, he took what might have been a depressing situation and turned it into a comedic goldmine. In August of last year, Halpern began tweeting the foul-mouthed witticisms spouted by his father, Samuel, on topics as varied as Pringles flavors and raising children. His Twitter feed (shitmydadsays) quickly became a web sensation, now boasts over a million followers, and has recently been turned into a book. Sh*t My Dad Says, which hit stores earlier this month and is now on the New York Times Bestsellers List, expands on the 140-character tweets and includes a few short essays about Halpern’s childhood and his relationship with his father. In a blog post for Powell’s Books, Halpern acknowledges his father’s input and support while writing the book. “Despite his editorializing, reviewing my manuscript with him was a great experience. I was reliving my childhood, and he was reliving that time in our lives, too, except through my eyes.”
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