The Two-Month Itch: 08/28/08

"The Two-Month Itch" reminds me most of "The Lady or the Tiger" except that the choices are Gavin or Bobby. Written in the second person, you must decide to either given in to your impulse to kiss Bobby on the plane trip to Arizona or stay true to your boyfriend of almost two-months, Gavin.

The story of the trip to visit the parents plays out in parallel narrative streams: one where you did kiss Bobby and one where you didn't. In one you're wracked with guilt and in the other you regret that missed kiss.

The story's conversational tone is humorous and bordering on slap-stick. I didn't warm to it until the parallel narratives began, labeled as Option A and Option B with ever sillier subtitles like "The One Where You Cheated, You Whorebag" (page 235). "The Two-Month Itch" would have fit perfectly in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and is very similar in tone to "Enfant Terrible" by Scott Dalrymple.

The stories in the book are: (Click on a title to read reviews).

• "A Day in the Life of My Great Brit Book Tour" by Adriana Trigiani.
• "Five" by Julianna Baggott
• "Leaving a Light On" by Claire LaZebnik
• "Moving Day" Cindy Chupack
• "Yoga Babe" Lauren Henderson
• "The Truth About Nigel" by Jennifer Weiner
• "Voodoo Dolls, C-Cups and Eminem" by Melissa Senate
• "The Bamboo Confessions" by Lauren Weisberger
• "Amore" by Laura Wolf
• "Andromeda on the Street of Ducklings" by Judi Hendricks
• "Bad Manners" by Chris Manby
• "The Two-Month Itch" by Sarah Mlynowski
• "I Know a Woman" by Quinn Dalton
• "Just Visiting" by Nancy Sparling
• "Forty Days" by Jill Smolinski
• "The Uncertainty Principle" by Lynda Curnyn
• "Small Worlds" by Gretchen Laskas

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