Wednesday, February 6, 2008 | by nathan

Since You Asked

Last week I arrived home to find an overlarge envelope crammed into our mail slot; the return address was Salon.com in San Francisco. Turned out, as a thank-you gift for renewing my premium membership (as if I wouldn’t), they’d sent me a copy of Since You Asked by Cary Tennis.

Since You Asked is an anthology of Tennis’ best columns for Salon. He took over writing their advice column for Garrison Keillor in 2001, and I almost immediately took a shine to him. A recovering alcoholic, Cary brings a sense of narrative and depth to advising people on everything from the near-impossible - "I Forgot To Tell My Wife I Have A Twelve-Year-Old Daughter" - to the almost-laughable - "Why Am I Obsessed With Celebrity Gossip?"

Cary never forgets that there are real-life consequences to our actions, that sometimes doing what seems right can lead to disastrous effects. A recovering alcoholic, he knows the rough edges of life all too well and brings a kind of compassion and grace to the table that few advice columnists are able to muster. The book is completely addicting, and because it is a collection of columns, reads easily and quickly. I was in the bathtub way past my bedtime reading it last night, and was able to get through a whole bunch more this morning like a flash.

You can read Cary’s column at Salon here.