Meet our daters: Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall | Jenn Heilman  

Each week, we check in with our Dating Diarists to see what’s happening in their lives when it comes to chemistry, romance, and maybe even love. This week, we asked a few of our daters to review The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dating. What do they think, and would they follow any of the advice?

Dana Neil: “There’s a summary of the table of contents that’s three pages long, and the table of contents itself is 12 pages long. I thought, what have I gotten myself into? Some of the advice was really out there. If you’re on a first or second date and the conversation dies down a bit, the book suggests telling your date that you’re reading The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dating and then asking him what he you thinks. That’s not happening. I’m not going to tell my date that I’m reading this. She suggests holding off on having sex and promoting intimacy by sitting on the floor opposite each other, putting your hand on the other person’s heart, and looking into each other’s eyes. She does have some good confidence builders, and she talks about how when you show confidence, you’re prettier. If someone is really shy or just getting into the dating scene, hearing that advice might be good. But overall, I think it’s a book for somebody a lot younger and new to the dating scene.”

On a scale of one to ten, Dana ranks the book a five: “It’s not the greatest, but it’s not the worst.”

Michael Amesquita: “The order of the chapters is a little weird. The first section is on where to go and who’s the one. The second section is preparing yourself so you and others love you. I’d think that would be first. You need to be self-confident and then go on dates. Some of it’s—well, it is an idiot’s guide. If you’re socially active and know how to make friends, this wouldn’t be good for you. Some of it’s also what kind of dating you want to do. Some of it doesn’t apply to me, like if I want to wear silk boxers. No one is going to see my silk boxers.”

On a scale of one to ten, Michael gives it a five: “I think most people should know this stuff. It’s nothing overly revealing. It’s really for an idiot.”

Sally Colson Cline: “I hated it. Maybe someone who’s completely lacking in social skills would be able to pull something from it. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s just things that any adult should know. I’d recommend it to someone who’s 35, living in his mom’s basement, plays computer games all day, and has never talked to a girl before.”

On a scale of one to ten, Sally gives it a three: “I think it could help someone, but I think the majority of the population will not glean anything from it.”