I Need a Man's Pants to Wash

Lorie Kleiner Eckert

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

In her first book, With This Ring I Journey, Lorie Kleiner Eckert journeyed to self-acceptance through her work as a quilter, and began to follow her dream of being an inspirational speaker. Her second book, Get Quiet and Listen, helps readers get in touch with their inner voice in order to achieve full potential. She has since established herself both as a fibre artist and inspirational speaker. Now, with the publication of her third book, she is known not only as a speaker and fibre artist, but also as a columnist whose essays appear in newspapers nationwide.

As a middle-aged Jewish divorcée, Eckert has a unique perspective on dating, relationships, and self-esteem. Her essays include inventive, fresh meditations on everything from cappuccino and pizza parlours to personal ads and Gwyneth Paltrow, with a little square dancing thrown in. This collection of thirty-one essays ranges far and wide across the landscape of 'singlehood', with an addictive blend of heartache, chutzpah, and yiddishkeit.

Review by Paul Lappen (151003) Rating (9/10)

Review by Paul Lappen
Rating 9/10
This book consists of a group of essays on life and the singles scene written by an over-40 Jewish divorcee from Ohio. They were first published in a number of Jewish newspapers from coast to coast.

A woman can be a superwoman in most areas, able to juggle kids, parents and/or a career without even breaking a sweat, but still be a complete klutz when it comes to even simple home improvement jobs. The book's title comes from a Jewish way of asking why a woman needs a man to feel complete and fulfilled. You can tell a lot about a man by his cappuccino habit. If he goes to the local gas station, instead of the local coffee bar, he likes sweets, he's frugal and he probably lives nearby.

There is much talk about men; how to get them, how to keep them and what makes them tick. The author talks about some of the men she has dated since her divorce.

In most cases, they look like they escaped from the local insane asylum, or there is a big difference between what they say they look like and what they really look like. If there is nothing but sex in a relationship, things will be wonderful for a while. But when the sex fizzles, the relationship will, too.

The author's plan for running a personal ad in a local monthly magazine is to run it for three consecutive months, but slightly alter the ad each month. That will help remove the perception of desperation. Of course, there are safety rules for dating, like arranging to meet him somewhere public, and letting friends know where you're going.

The author also looks at mail-order catalogues, spending a day volunteering at an organic farm run by a group of nuns, the fact that women can learn home repair if they are so inclined, a trip with her youngest daughter, now a teenager, to the local Chuck E. Cheese pizza parlour, the TV show Sex and the City and why not start your own holiday traditions? The book also includes an introduction to the Yiddish language, with more than 100 words used throughout the book defined in the back of the book.

This one is quite good. It concerns subjects near and dear to everyone (life in general, and relationships in particular) and it's written in a very easy-to-read style, as if the reader is sitting across a kitchen table from Eckert. You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate it. It's very much worth reading.
Paul Lappen (15th October 2003)