The Invisible Man

When I used to subscribe to Glamour, one of my favorite columns was Jake, the monthly dating/relationships column written pseudonymously, from a guy’s perspective. I always found it fun to read the male take on girls and dating-and you knew it was honest since he was writing under an assumed name!

Recently I read this article in the New York Times Style section about the new book based on the column, and it was really interesting! Did you know the Jake column has been around since the 50’s? And that one of the first pieces of advice that Jake offered up to us ladies was not to show up drunk for a date? Thanks, Jake 🙂

Vintage Jake

One interesting tidbit from the Times article mentioned how the Glamour editors, when recruiting “Jake”, were always careful to choose someone who genuinely liked women. That might seem obvious, but to me it was the thing that always set the Jake column apart from other books/articles written from the male perspective (Tucker Max, anyone?). “Jake” always seemed to be genuinely trying to encourage and help the female reader in a lovely kind of a way-he’s like your best guy friend. It’s always been a column that just had a nice tone behind it, so I’m definitely intrigued by the idea of the Jake book!

Any Jake fans out there? Were you surprised to see they made a book out of it?

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  1. I've never heard of Jake but I definitely want to check this book out- it sounds so interesting!

    Published 3.6.12 · Reply
  2. Leslie wrote:

    I loved the Jake column too. I think it's actually a fun idea that they made all of the columns into a book!

    Published 3.6.12 · Reply
  3. I def want to get this book- I was right there with you. I always looked forward to reading about Jake, and I always hoped he would have ended up with Orange Blossoms. You are right- a much more stand up guy than Tucker Max. Ew.

    Published 3.6.12 · Reply
  4. Jake has always been one of my favorite columns, and I've definitely been thinking about picking up the book. (Even though I'm married and don't have to worry about hitting on the wingman or any other man for that matter ha.) I think that's such an interesting point about the editors selecting someone who actually likes women. It reminds me of that scene in Hitch where Will Smith's character says he only helps men who like women. The whole "pick-up artist" thing is just insulting. It's nice to get advice from a nice person!

    Published 3.6.12 · Reply