By Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo
In these enlightened times of self-help-book saturation, Gen-X poster children Stiller and Garofalo have helped themselves to a piece of the action with this quasi-parody, subtitled An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy and Sexual Satisfaction. In this book that's ostensibly about relationships, these actor-comedians, costars in 1994's Reality Bites, set things up early with the big revelation: They used to be lovers, for some 12 weeks back in 1992, in what Stiller describes as "quite possibly, the worst relationship ever." After a he-said, she-said account of their pairing, which Stiller recalls more fondly than Garofalo, the two dispense their words of witdom with hardly a swipe at each other. Stiller, who showed a great capacity for self-mockery in last year's gross-out hit There's Something About Mary, conveys a touching pathos, whether he's revealing that he has entertained thoughts of suicide in a drug-altered state or espousing the merits of cuddling up in bed with a Chihuahua. Garofalo's caustic humor does not translate as well to the page. She comes off whiny, unsparing and bitter—the same "virtues" that make her such an affecting comic presence in films like 1996's The Truth About Cats and Dogs. But there's nothing feel-good about those qualities here. (Ballantine, $22.95)
Bottom Line: Neurotic, how-not-to guide to romance
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