'Fess up: you know you love soap operas. I don't care if you head a multinational firm or run a beauty parlor. Whether you are married to the DA (your fourth marriage) or the stable boy (OBVIOUSLY your first). Or if you have a missing twin, a baby given up for adoption, or an ex-lover who once held you captive on a remote tropical island. You love soap operas. You live soap operas. And this witty book gives advice that every diva needs in order to survive in the rough-and-tumble world of soaps.
In Gerry Waggett's You Know Your Life is a Soap Opera If... chapters are arranged into different areas based on the diva's life experience. This advice ranges from the birth of your first child (whose father is the best friend/brother/father of your husband/boyfriend/pool boy) to the funeral that you preplanned for the death you faked. One important chapter contains jewelry box advice; the diva must be equipped for anything. That said, the prepared soap goddess will have the following: a ring containing a secret compartment, a variety of used wedding bands, cuff links for when you cross-dress in order to eavesdrop on your soon-to-be-ex-husband, and "one lone ruby earring, the mate to which is owned by your long-lost identical twin."
I wish the book contained more soap business advice. A gal needs to know how to successfully run a family multinational corporation with a fashion division (of course!) while never actually going to the office. Or, conversely, how to hold the respect of one's employees while purring around the office in this season's lingerie. What a hat trick!
Overall, it is a cute book and very funny to anyone familiar with soaps. It could easily have been a shorter book, though. Given that the audience is soap lovers who no doubt are already familiar with the typical story lines, some of the explanation was lengthy. It is still enjoyable, however, and a great gift book for your favorite diva-in-training.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!