Em and Lo's Buh Bye - book discontinued by Chronicle Books - review by Kayla

"Buh Bye" is a short, dictionary-like book written by Em and Lo and published by Chronicle Books. The tagline is "The Ultimate Guide to Dumping and Getting Dumped", and the book is a softcover book with white, blue, and black color on the inside. The book has 191 pages. The book has a book jacket that doesn't do much aside from remove the yellow color from the cover of the book. All of the text is in a relatively-small font, but it's still easy to read. The book is organized by the letters of the alphabet.

"What?" You say. "Why would any book be organized by the alphabet?" Well, that's a good question. It's because "Buh Bye" is actually a mini-dictionary. Much like their book "Sex Toy" and "Rec Sex", this book is basically a mini-dictionary to all of the words that are used to describe break-ups and being dumped. Each little word has its own dictionary entry, and inside that dictionary entry are bolded words that relate to other entries throughout the book. In this way, you learn some of the new "lingo" while still having an amusing read.

The book can be a bit (okay, more than "a bit") boring to read straight-through even though Em and Lo write in an amusing manner. This could also be a personal preference, but I had a hard time reading straight through their other Dictionary-like books either, so I don't think it's just this book. However, it's not a bad book to pick up, read when you're bored, and not feel bad about putting it back down to read again later since there's nothing to get "caught up" in.

I'm not someone who speaks with much "modern" lingo anyway, but I have to wonder if these are words Em and Lo made up or if people actually say things like "Break-Up Barbie", "Ex Con", "Playing Goalie", or "Pulling a Librarian". If these are all words that people actually use, it's no wonder that Em and Lo had to write a book on all of it. I just used to call this "breaking up" or "getting dumped". Hmm. I think I need to hang out with other college kids or something. This is like a secret language.

This is not really a book to read right after you've been broken up with. I thought it'd be a type of book to really help you get through your break-up, but that's definitely not this book. Em and Lo are really blunt about some of the things that people who are dumped do (leg-clinging, letting themselves go), and I can't really see this being much of a "help" to those who have been dumped. However, I'd probably recommend this to people who are happily single or in a relationship and just curious. Mixed within all of the dictionary entries are actual good tips about breaking up and getting dumped. For example, they recommend that you never take someone out to dinner then break up with them after dinner as it will seem like it's their last dinner. They also recommend avoiding dumping someone out in public or at a spot that means a lot to them. It just, in general, gives some good tips throughout the dictionary entries.

A nice addition that this book had that was absent in Sex Toy and Rec Sex was the addition of little "side" bars. For example, once in awhile, they'll be things like a two page spread that says "The Best Break-Up Scene (blank)(Blank)(blank)", and it will show some quotes from a movie break-up scene. One of them is "Truest-To-Life Potty-Mouth in a Break-Up Scene" and it quotes the movie "Closer" (2004). Along with this, at the end of the book, there are a couple of "cute" resources including a "DEFCON" manual that basically tells you, depending on how not-over your ex you are, how you should act when invited to a concert/wedding/party/dinner/etc. that your ex will be attending. Along with that, Em and Lo include the top 100 break-up songs and their artist to help you go through a break-up. (My favorite "Radio" by Sweetbox was not included. This may have something to do with the fact that it's a Japanese song.)

This book, overall, is a good book though. Em and Lo are honest about the ideas of breaking up and dumping others, and it's easy to find exactly what you are looking for. I recommend reading through this book during a break-up, after a break-up, or even before one even happens. It's humorous and easy-to-read.