Daring to Date Again: A Memoir

by Ann Anderson Evans

Overview

Ann is sixty and suffering from celibacy. Going through two divorces has made her skittish; having two children has made her cautious. But finally her longing for sex and romance sends her hurtling out of her comfort zone. Her adventure begins with a very nice transvestite—and gets more interesting from there. Put a divorcee raised in the 1950s into the Internet world, and this is what you get: a comic romp that evolves into a profound and touching experience, complete with some meaty moral questions—and answers. Ranging from Montclair, New Jersey to Harare, Zimbabwe, Daring to Date Again: A Memoir is a compelling, often racy memoir of one woman’s late-life adventures with sex and dating in the modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631529092
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	11/11/2014
Pages:	290
Sales rank:	779,017
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ann Evans is a writer, linguist, and professor. Her writing has appeared in Phantasmagoria, Words and Images, Phoebe, Ozone Park Journal, Under the Sun, and Pedagogy, and she has appeared on the cover of ELDR magazine. A wife (for the third time), mother, and grandmother, she has traveled and lived in many countries and speaks six languages—but when it comes to love, she’s just like everyone else.

Editorial Reviews

…funny and introspective, filled with compassion and written without an ounce of affectation or disingenuousness.… Her explorations are illuminating. They’re also a kick, with a surprisingly uplifting effect. A candid, breezy memoir that may inspire even the most dating-averse.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A wise, witty memoir about a woman of a certain age who boldly and unapologetically seeks—and finds sexual adventure, and surprises herself by discovering love in the process.”
—Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train

“Women of any age will fi nd inspiration in Ann Anderson Evans’ compelling tale of romantic adventure and self-reinvention. Want to know how not to act old? Live as if your story can still have the happiest of endings.”
—Pamela Redmond Satran, author of New York Times bestseller How Not To Act Old

“Daring to Date Again is a lively, witty, achingly honest, well-crafted account of one woman’s emergence from twelve years of celibacy to become a sexual enthusiast in her sixties. You’ll laugh—and sometimes worry!—as Ann jumps into bed with her Mr. Right-for-the- Moment parade. She wears her heart on her sleeve—or she wears nothing at all—and we share her adventures.”
—Joan Price, author of Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex
“Ann Anderson Evans details how a sophisticated lady of the Internet era opens doors to serious relationships [This is] a manual for sexy, smart people of a certain age, of either sex.”
—Ford Burkhart, Pulitzer Prize Winner, former editor at The New York Times

“Daring to Date Again: A Memoir is a sassy internet dating memoir with an attitude. … One doesn't expect wit along with the wisdom, but it's there. What's also unexpected is the spirit of adventure in a sixty-something who is willing to travel halfway across the world to Zimbabwe to meet an internet contact—but it's there, too. Most surprising of all is the quest for sexuality in older years: something few dating books even discuss. The result is best viewed as a rollicking train ride that leads to a few wrecks, excitement, and a lot of fun.”
—D. Donovan, Sr. eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

2015-02-13
Evans' (The History of Abortion, 2012) memoir follows her return to the world of dating after two divorces, 12 years of celibacy, and 60 years of living.In 2003, when Evans had not been on a date in 19 years, she decided to "seek out the touch of a man"—perhaps a courageous choice given what a minefield dating can be at any age. She knew she was taking a risk and defying assumptions: "The normal, respectable sixty-year-old woman was expected to be quiescent sexually—that is what I had expected myself. It was shocking to find out that libido could flame intensely so late in life." Evans was admirably not quiescent; she was instead proactive in finding sex and companionship. Her primary venues were online, where she encountered men with a wide range of manners and charm. Throughout, she kept an open mind, asking for nonjudgmental clarification when she came across a fetish she wasn't familiar with and gamely taking trips to such places as a Vermont nude beach. She even traveled to Zimbabwe to meet Guy—a businessman she met on Craigslist—in person. Early on, one of Evans' friends advised her to turn her dating adventures into "a research project," and in the sense that Evans is observant, thorough, and informative, her memoir does have a researchlike nature. But it's also funny and introspective, filled with compassion and written without an ounce of affectation or disingenuousness. Her reflections on the dubiousness of some situations—particularly those relating to the many married men seeking sex—address some of the ethical issues surrounding digital dating, which are well-worth considering. At times, readers may not agree with the author's stance, but as she notes, she is "not the morality police." She doesn't go into detail about her sexual escapades; she's more interested in exploring the social, biological, and emotional components of sex than depicting the deed itself. Her explorations are illuminating. They're also a kick, with a surprisingly uplifting effect.A candid, breezy memoir that may inspire even the most dating-averse.

Kirkus Reviews