Yes, Again
(Mis)adventures of a Wishful Thinker
Yes, Again is an affirming memoir about the joys and difficulties of dating after loss.
Sallie H. Weissinger’s winsome memoir Yes, Again traces her outlandish dating project, which lead to another chance at love.
After Weissinger’s second husband died, she was determined to find love again. Her search intensified via Pastrami, a website through which she asked her family, friends, and acquaintances to help her find a partner who matched her criteria, which she organized into an acrostic, “pastrami.” The winning matchmaker would receive a finder’s fee—a donation made in their name to a choice charity. The project lasted for three years, with little success, until someone introduced Weissinger to a man whom she knew wouldn’t want anything to do with the project.
The book follows Weissinger’s winding path toward dating fulfillment. Its beginning consists in humorous dating forays and mishaps, as well as an account of the website’s progress from a joke idea to a designer site with market appeal. Instances of reflection and active intention follow this string of dating tales, including the exploration of desire itself. The middle section plunges into intimate memories, with a focus on cherished moments with Weissinger’s departed husband and their combined families. Accounts of working and volunteering are shared to contribute to a sense of who Weissinger is—both a woman with a can-do personality and one with an open spirit.
The book’s chapter headings take their names from pop songs; this upbeat tone is mimicked in the book’s general jauntiness and varied approach. In addition to the pursuit of love, it relates many and varied friendships, as well as the influential positive and negative voices in Weissinger’s head. Vibrant conversations with others are recorded, and Weissinger is seen taking to heart what others tell her—including what she hears from a life coach and a therapist.
The book’s range of extreme emotions conveys general receptiveness to new love well. This helps the book to move back toward the pursuit of new love, and to switch from its middle elegiac tone to the tender story of how she met her third husband. Personal photographs are present to amplify the book’s celebratory elements. By the end, Pastrami has proven to be a contextualizing force for organizing Weissinger’s memories.
Yes, Again is an affirming memoir about the joys and difficulties of dating after loss.
Reviewed by
Mari Carlson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
