The guy who got away. The guy who’s hotter than you. The guy you always go back to. The guy who’s much older. The guy who’s toxic. The guy you can’t remember.
Gabi Conti knows them all. She’s dated them all.
Now she wants you to know them too.
Gabi — a 2005 Staples High School graduate — is in her early 30s. But all those experiences happened in her 20s. Hence the title: “Twenty Guys You Date in Your Twenties.”
(The first guy was actually a fellow Stapleite, when she was 16. But he made the cut, because they reconnected a decade later.)
Gabi Conti, with her book.
“Twenty Guys” is not some random collection of thoughts. Gabi began writing at Staples for Inklings, the school paper. At Emerson College she studied broadcast journalism and writing for TV and film.
She moved to Los Angeles, worked as a production assistant for Comedy Central, did stand-up and sketch comedy, wrote videos and editorials, and blogged about her comedic musings.
Starting in high school, she kept a “love journal.” At 23 she had a “traumatic break-up”: The guy she’d dated for a year had been lying all along about his age.
At 29, Gabi decided she wanted to get published before she turned 30. She realized she had all the material she needed. It just needed to be, um, massaged.
She also needed to make sure it was okay to publish. She contacted 19 exes. Some were surprised. But all were fine with her idea. (She changed names and certain information to protect, presumably, everyone.)
She got an agent, and a contract. “Twenty Guys You Date …” was just published.
One of those guys.
It sounds racy. But, Gabi says, “it’s really PG-13. It’s more about relationships than sex.”
In fact, the final chapter is about her parents’ dates (and marriage). Spoiler alert: It does contain a little sex. But just a little.
“Twenty Guys…” is not only for 20-somethings. “If you’re single at any age, this book is for you,” Gabi says.
“You can also change the pronouns, based on who you are and who you love.” Bad dates cross genders and sexualities.
Of course, I had to ask: What’s Gabi’s dating life like now?
After writing her book — but before it was published — she did a “dating experiment” for Cosmo. She went on 30 dates in 3 days.
“I learned really good dating habits,” she says diplomatically. But when that was over, she met a guy…
In September, they went on 3 dates in 3 days. Now they live together.
I did not ask if she’s still taking notes.
(To order “Twenty Guys You Date in Your Twenties,” click here.)