Book review: Geeks Guide to Dating

content/reviews/books/the-geeks-guide-to-dating.md

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+title = "The Geek's Guide to Dating - Eric Smith"
+date = 2021-03-23
+
+[taxonomies]
+tags = ["books", "reviews", "books:2021", "stars:4", "edition:2013", "self-help"]
++++
+
+[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17568806-the-geek-s-guide-to-dating):
+You keep your action figures in their original packaging. Your bedsheets are
+officially licensed Star Wars merchandise. You're hooked on Elder Scrolls and
+Metal Gear but now you've discovered an even bigger obsession: the new girl who
+just moved in down the hall. What's a geek to do? Take some tips from Eric Smith
+in The Geek's Guide to Dating. This hilarious primer leads geeks of all ages
+through the perils and pitfalls of meeting women, going on dates, getting
+serious, breaking up, and establishing a successful lifelong relationship (hint:
+it's time to invest in new bedsheets). Full of whimsical 8-bit illustrations,
+The Geek's Guide to Dating will teach fanboys everywhere to love long and
+prosper.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+{{ stars(stars=3) }}
+
+I have to be honest: The first 1/3 of the book was quite boring. If you ever
+read any other dating-advice book, there is a lot of same tips: Listen to her,
+find some common ground, etc, etc, etc. All that with heavy drops of geek/nerd
+culture: game references, movie references, book references and the continuous
+use of referring to the reader as "Player One" (ok, I get it: People are trying
+to get their "Player Two", but heck, calm the freaking down).
+
+The later parts are a bit better, going off the common ground: casual dating,
+second date, how to dress, how to make things work when things get serious, what
+you should be looking for a long term relationship and how to act when things
+fall down -- either by your own decision or theirs.
+
+But there is something off here: Sure, it is somewhat fun getting ideas using
+analogies based on nerd stuff (again, games, movies and books), but the whole
+thing seems focused on geek guys, and I feel it would be really interesting, as
+a guy, to understand the female perspective of this all. The book tries
+(*tries*) to make things a bit less biased by adding a disclaimer that geek
+girls can also read the book, and should just replace the "she/her" to
+"he/him" -- which absolutely does not work on some chapters, like the "How to
+Dress" part.
+
+And yes, the heavy use of drop/nerd references in the first half does not help
+the lighter use in the second half: You're already tired of reading about Mario
+or Sonic or whatever.
+
+I'm going to give a 3 star just because it does the extra mile of going to
+different ideas of dating (serious vs casual), dealing with things going serious
+and breakups.