YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SHUT UP: A LOVE STORY with authors Annabelle Gurwitch and Jeff Kahn
Friday, April 2, at 6:00 p.m.
Description:
After 13 years of marriage, authors Annabelle Gurwitch & Jeff Kahn have discovered, “we’re just not that into us.” The good news is a hilarious memoir has come of their union. YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SHUT UP: A Love Story (Crown; February 23, 2010) is a moving chronicle of marriage told in a raw, honest, and humorous way that is sure to strike terror and laughs into the heart of any couple, as well as every single man and woman who has ever contemplated walking down the aisle.
Actors/comedians/writers/real-life married couple Annabelle and Jeff believe that in marriage, all you need is love—and a healthy dose of complaining, co-dependence, and Pinot Noir. They illustrate how each spouse’s perception of a relationship, and even the very same events, can be diametrically opposed. Instead of giving up, they’ve held their relationship together by ignoring conventional wisdom, using parenting as a competitive sport, and dropping out of couples therapy. In addition to their unusual marital methods, they also share their unique and tender, yet unsentimental account of the medical odyssey that their family embarked upon after their infant son was diagnosed with V A C T E R L, a very rare series of birth defects.
Told in a he-said/she-said format, the essays cover all the landmines couples must negotiate, including: sex, romance, and intimacy (and the total lack thereof); squabbling over finances; the wacky wonderful world of in-laws; the spirit draining non-vacation vacations of the harried and hardworking who can’t ever seem to relax; and the carefree joys of aging together. Serving up equal parts sincerity and cynicism, YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SHUT UP is a laugh-out-loud must-read for every person who has come to realize that being “in love” can only get you so far.
About the Authors:
ANNABELLE GURWITCH is an actress and writer. She first gained a wide comedic following during her years co-hosting Dinner & a Movie on TBS. Annabelle turned her experience of being canned by Woody Allen into the Off-Broadway play, touring show, book, and documentary film Fired! Her film premiered on Showtime and has been screened everywhere from The SOUTH BY SOUTH West Film Festival to The Department of Labor on Capitol Hill. She’s been a regular commentator on Day to Day on NPR and a humor columnist for TheNationMagazine.com.
Annabelle has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Fox & Friends, CNN, MSNBC, The CBS Early Show, and Talk of The Nation on NPR. She’s been profiled in major print outlets including The Washington Post, Psychology Today, More, Chicago Tribune, TIME Denver Post, InStyle, The New York Times, USA Today, and People. She regularly gives opinions on CNN Headline News, FOX, and VHI, and her essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Child, Glamour, and two anthologies: Note to Self and Rejected!. She currently hosts the series WA$TED! on The Planet Green Network. This is her second book and second marriage.
JEFF KAHN is a writer/performer who began his career on MTV’s The Ben Stiller Show. A few years later, he won an Emmy award for writing on FOX’s The Ben Stiller Show. It was a moment so unexpected and shocking that he literally cried. Jeff has written on several other shows including Later with Greg Kinnear, Austin Stories, and Dilbert. He has also written and produced numerous television pilots, in particular, a spin-off of All American Girl starring Margaret Cho. He can be seen on HBO reruns of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, and The Larry Sanders Show, and in the films Tropic Thunder, 40-Year-Old Virgin, and The Cable Guy. Online, Jeff is featured on the show, The Writer’s Room. His essays can be read online at FreshYarn.com and in his wife’s terrific and very funny book, Fired! This is Jeff’s very first book and marriage.
Reviews:
“So funny because it is so accurate. Kahn and Gurwitch illuminate the insanity of marriage. They make you want to embrace your spouse for the same reason you want to strangle them.”
—Ben Stiller
“Damn, marriage isn’t supposed to be this much fun! If anyone is going to save marriage, it won’t be James Dobson—it’ll be Annabelle Gurwitch and Jeff Kahn.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
“Although after 11 ½ years of pure, uninterrupted marital bliss, I don’t relate at all to the subject matter, I still found Jeff and Annabelle’s book to be hilarious.”
—Judd Apatow, director, writer, and producer of Knocked Up
You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up: A Love Story (Hardcover)
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown, 02/01/2010