Love Secrets of Don Juan by Tim Lott

By Han Wei Chou • UrbanWire
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Bridget Jones’s Diary has become a bestseller for its sensitive portrayal of the modern woman. The book plumbed the depths of female thought and provided an insight into the private insecurities and worries of women. According to authorsontheweb.com, the book virtually started the “Chick Literature” genre (books written for young women, by young women that deal with female issues such as weight loss and relationships). Nowadays, there are a huge number of books in that genre while examples of “Lad Literature”, (Chick Literature’s male counterpart) continue to remain obscure and elusive, until recently that is.

Tim Lott’s new book, The Love Secrets of Don Juan rides on a new wave of growing interest in Lad Lit. The title is actually quite misleading as the story is not at all about Don Juan the legendary lover, but actually about Daniel Savage, a legendary loser.

Daniel used to be a brash high-flyer in the advertising industry, working for prestigious clients like BMW and Levi Strauss. Unfortunately, he came undone after a series of bad decisions, bad relationships and a bad affair with the bottle. Now 45, Daniel has degraded to the extent of having to work for a small advertising firm with clients that include “a brand of particularly foul-smelling dog food and toilet paper”.

To make things worse, he is undergoing a tumultuous divorce from his wife Bethany, while his 6-year-old daughter Poppy struggles to understand the bitter conflict between her parents. Determined to move on and get things right before his biological clock dies on him, Daniel goes for intensive therapy sessions where his psychiatrist Terence advises him to do some navel-gazing and find the reasons behind his many failed relationships.

With a little help from his best friend Martin, an extremely popular bachelor, Daniel takes his doctor’s advice and makes multiple trips down memory lane, reviewing his

past mistakes and compiling a list of solutions, which he dubs “The Love Secrets Of Don Juan”. He scribbles them all onto a flipchart, believing that these solutions will make all his future relationships work out.
The trouble starts when he decides to actually put these “Secrets of Success” into practice. He uses them to start a romantic relationship with a wonderful new woman named Alice whom he loves. She also happens to be his best friend’s girlfriend.

Besides having an interesting premise, The Love Secrets Of Don Juan is pretty hilarious too. Some of the flashbacks, such as his recollections about his awkward first kiss and an intimate experience with a classmate are sure to bring a smile to your face. Despite a timeline that shifts back and forth, the central story thread about his current life is not weakened but enriched as these detours into his past are seamlessly woven in. The flashbacks do not feel like jarring distractions from the central plot but a natural progression of it.

Tim also pays special attention when crafting his characters. He fleshes out all the nuances by describing in detail the ways they react to certain events, making them come alive. A good example is the way Daniel’s wife chose to take away what he held most dear, instead of what she really wanted, to spite him when they were divvying up their household possessions for divorce. You can tell what state of mind she is in and even experience her emotions, her cruelty. As the story progresses, Tim slowly builds a profile of who each character really is and gets the reader to feel what they feel. By the end of this 254-page novel, these characters are no longer just images in your head, but old friends you can identify with.

Dealing with pertinent male issues such as the decline in self-esteem following a job loss, along with the struggle to snare a good mate and the yearning for female companionship, the story is something male readers will easily identify with. Female readers will also enjoy the book as it is like a road trip into the recesses of the male psyche, much like the way some guys enjoyed reading Bridget Jone’s Diary when it came out a few years ago.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars