Do you really love me?

Do You Love Me or Am I Just Paranoid?," a book of tongue-in-cheek relationship advice by Carina Chocano, is a hilarious dive into the often murky world of adult relationships. I was a little wary of a self-help book for relationships because I often think they are full of bad advice (a la "The Rules"), but "Do You Love Me" reveled in its awful advice and unabashedly proclaimed itself to be a guide to failing relationships. Chocano carves out the often humiliating and daunting world of dating into humorous anecdotes peppered with bad advice. \nThis book came across as a different type of advice book in the first page of the introduction. Lacking was the optimism present in most relationship books. Instead, "Do You Love Me" proclaimed relationships to be a waste of energy, a nightmare of compromise and generosity and a liquor-fueled period of psychosis counteracted by a tingling sensation in the pants. An interesting start for an advice book to be sure.\n"Do You Love Me" then separated the joys of the opposite (or same) sex relationships in different sections, including monogamous relationships, the joys of being single, how to break up with somebody and the world of casual dating. In each, Chocano pokes fun at the often pathetic ways otherwise normal, healthy adults conduct themselves in a two-some. \nI found the anecdotes at the end of each chapter to be the best part of the book. Chocano says in the introduction that these are stories about herself, her friends and her friends' college roommates. They offer a humorous peek into the relationships that any detached observer can tell are doomed to crash and burn. The insecurities of both parties are often evident, and the reactions of friends and family are often priceless insights into the human condition. \nI was most amused by the anecdote discussing a woman who went through boyfriends like Kleenex. At a wedding when her boyfriend's name was wrong on a place setting, she took it as her family not making an effort to get to know the new boyfriend and thinking she was promiscuous. What may have been a simple oversight got blown into a large-scale aspect because of the woman's insecurities about her own dating past. \nChocano breathes fresh air into the realm of self-help. Instead of promoting the happiest and smoothest paths possible, Chocano's book encourages readers to go about their lives in their own ways. Despite the fact that some relationships are bad, Chocano encourages living and enjoying them to their fullest extent. As pig-headed or wrong as it may be, I think it is fabulous that an advice book encourages normal human behavior. As the title suggests, love is not a rational emotion, and it is invaluable that a book recognizes that fact.\nThe advice offered for relationships in books certainly won't make for a perfect one, especially the advice contained within "Do You Love Me." However, in a raucously funny way it does confirm the behaviors that many otherwise sane adults engage in when in love. As advice, I would take the snippets with a large grain of salt. As a hilarious read, I would recommend "Do You Love Me or Am I Just Paranoid?" without reservation.