Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Becoming Filliam H. Muffman

In the grand tradition of mashed-up nicknames for celebrity couples -- think Bennifer, Vaughniston, Brangelina, Tomkat, and Abhishwarya -- Stephen Colbert coined a great one to describe the dynamic duo of actors William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman: Filliam H. Muffman. That name will always be funny.

So how does one create such a dynamic duo? I'm told dating is involved. Unfamiliar with that topic, I consulted A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend, a manual for men written by two women: Felicity Huffman and Patricia Wolff. After all, who better to explain it than the better half of Filliam H. Muffman?

While occasionally too surefooted or irreverent, I think the authors have the right approach.

In order to make relationships practical to women, target the men, who have no idea what they're doing anyway. Makes sense.

With more pulpy illustrations inside and chapters on everything from Internet dating to TV rituals to sex to breaking up, the authors cover the entire life of the relationship.
Plus, it's sassy and informative; in a few short hours, I've become an expert on relationships, and am finally ready to get my own talk show.

2 comments:

Courtney said...

How disturbing is it that you have a category for tomkat?

Neel Mehta said...

Eh. Tomkat's relevance has diminished in the past year or so. But I used to write a lot about them.

The real question is: how disturbing is it that I remembered and linked to that Sassy sketch?