The Last Blind Date by Linda Yellin (Interview and review)

Today we have an interview with author, Linda Yellin, who is promoting her book, The Last Blind Date.

Welcome Linda!

Author: Linda Yellin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster (October 4, 2011)


A fun, charming memoir about a woman who falls in love, packs her bags, and starts over in the city that eats its young.

My thoughts:

I'm not usually one to read non-fiction, especially memoirs.  I just really don't find them interesting.  I am so glad that I decided to step outside of my reading comfort zone and give The Last Blind Date a chance.  I loved this book!  It was full of humor, honesty, and insight.  From the first page, I couldn't put it down and devoured it. 

I won't give too much away, but the author writes about her long distance courtship with her husband and her decision to move to New York to marry him.  The book is more than a love story, it is a glimpse into one woman's chance to start over and re-invent herself.  The author gives us a peek into her anxieties and insecurities as she adjusts to a new city as well as adjusting to the new role of step-mother.  I think the thing that appealed to me most about this book was that I could really identify with the author in so many ways.  Who hasn't had to start over in a new job or new neighborhood and tried to make new friends?  The Last Blind Date will be moving to my keeper pile.  I definitely recommend this one and think that it will end up in your keeper pile as well!

Ms. Yellin was kind enough to take some time to answer a few questions for From the TBR Pile:

Kari: What inspired you to write this memoir?

Linda:   I wrote a novel eons ago called Such A Lovely Couple that’s really the prequel to my memoir. (served up as a novel because I was too much of a coward to label it a memoir…plus I made up a kid brother - but only because I’ve always wanted one.) What with my name at the end of the alphabet down on the bottom shelf of the book stores along with the dust bunnies, Such A Lovely Couple officially became the world’s most unread novel. I decided that if I ever wanted it discovered, I’d have to write something else that people liked, hopefully inspiring them to read Such A Lovely Couple. Which another lovely couple, Mr. Simon and Mr. Schuster, were kind enough to reissue as an e-book. The Last Blind Date picks up the story from there. 

Kari: What was the most difficult thing about writing a memoir? Which was harder fiction or real-life? 

Linda:  With memoir there’s always that little voice saying: Geez, will Cousin So-and-So be mad if she recognizes herself? Come to think of it, that same little voice kept popping up while writing the novel – so I’ll go with: It’s a tie. 

Kari: What is your favorite part of the book?

Linda: Randy.

Kari: If they ever made your book into a movie, and you had some say, who would you pick to play yourself and Randy?   

Linda: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. I think Randy kinda looks like Tom Hanks and I’ve always wanted Rita Wilson’s hair. 

Kari: What exciting project do you have waiting in the wings for us?

Linda: The publishing process takes so long that the next book isn’t in the wings; it’s close to stepping out on the stage. Three and a half chapters left to go. The Last Blind Date was sold over a year ago so I had plenty of time to write. It’s a novel. And I just hope Cousin So-and-So will like it.

Thank you!

About the author:

Linda Yellin spent most of her responsible adult years writing advertising in Chicago for shampoos, cheese, yogurt and burgers. Then she fell in love, got married, and moved to New York, going through as many changes as a person possibly can without entering the Federal Witness Protection Program. Along the way she published short stories in Redbook and a sad-funny novel, Such A Lovely Couple. Her first reply letter ever came from an editor at Good Housekeeping who said she writes in “much the same style as Dorothy Parker.” Publishers Weekly said she has the “wit and verve of Susan Isaacs.” She now writes humor pieces for More magazine and is being called “The Midwest Nora Ephron.”