Tampa Book Buzz

book buzz:the independent woman’s guide to life by gabi lorino

The Independent Woman’s Guide to Life by Gabi Lorino, ISBN #1413723098 

All the world’s a stage, and the women merely players. We have our exits and our entrances, and one woman in her time plays many parts. Her stages of life are the seven ages of modern life.  (Aside) But if all the world’s a stage, then she’ll be needing better costumes, and more costume changes as well. A large budget for shoes is advisable.

 Gabi Lorino is Tampa’s version of Candace Bushnell. In The Independent Woman’s Guide to Life, Lorino uses the ups and downs of everyday life as fodder for her one-woman stage show and uses her book to recount both the real-life and stage versions of her adventures.

A first date becomes a riff on creating a formal dating resume and application process. A painful breakup sparks the Six Stages of Heartbreak. Years of working and dating are mined for — my favorite — Certain Truths That Apply to Both Working and Dating (such as: The audition process is demeaning and The more desirable it seems to the outside world, the more high-maintenance it is for you).

Lorino briefly — in only 127 pages — recounts her speed-dating, bridesmaid-enduring, job-hating, world-traveling, boy-crazy, celebrity-stalking adventures in a conversational, breezy tone. Her witty, astute observations are presented as parts of a monologue for her one-woman show, dispersed throughout the book and presented together at the end.

This is a one-woman show worth seeing (and reading).

Book Buzz Barometer: B+

Her website is www.gabilorino.com.