Cynthia Heimel

Where did Cynthia Heimel go, anyway? She disappeared after the release of her 2002 book, Advanced Sex Tips for Girls: This Time It’s Personal (that would be the one with the cover featuring a woman’s stiletto-shod foot bearing down on a walnut). Since even Google doesn’t seem to know Ms. Heimel’s whereabouts, I’ll settle for wishing her well and strongly suggesting that everyone hit their local bookstore and scrounge up one of her essay collections. Maybe if there’s a sudden upswing in sales, she’ll come out of hiding. My favorite Heimel book is If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?, but When Your Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’ll Be Me and Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I’m Kissing You Good-Bye! are good too. Heimel’s gleefully pithy books (many of which were originally written for Playboy and The Village Voice) discuss everything from sex to politics to dog rescue. They’re like R-rated self-help. Buy them. Enjoy them. Share them with your friends.

Aftertaste:
None.

Availability:
Availability seems to be limited in bookstores, but you can order them online and buy them used.

Other Recommendations:
The collected works of Berkeley Breathed, even though he can't seem to hold onto a girl character to save his life.