As Always, Dave

By Jack Weyland

Reviewed by Karen Hamilton
On 3/27/2008

Deseret Book, 2007 Paperback:
316 pages
ISBN-10: 1-59038-849-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-59038-849-5 Price: $15.95

As Dave Beckstrom comes home from his mission, he finds life is not going how he expected it to; it has moved on in unforeseen ways. Abbie Tucker, the girl that he assumed would be waiting for him to return home, is now on the other side of the country employed as a New York nannie. As life moves on, Dave tries to find the comfortable life that was to be waiting for him in Ririe, Idaho.

Dave sets out for New York to see if he can convince Abbie to come home and pick up where they left off before his mission. Little does Dave know that Abbie is dating someone else and has no plans to return to Idaho and the small town life of Ririe. As he lands in New York, his reintroduction to Abbie is somewhat of a shock. Not only has she changed her physical appearance, but her attitude and demeanor are much harsher and abrupt than Dave remembers.

The first thing that Abbie asks Dave to do is lie. She doesn’t want her boyfriend, Eldon, to know that the two of them used to date. Furthermore, Abbie has told the Singles Ward that Dave is her cousin. While he isn’t happy about Abbie’s lies, he agrees to go along with her plan. During his visit he shares the apartment of pre-med student, Nathan. At the first activity that the ward is holding, Nathan gives Dave advice, “I just listen to them. More than anything they just need a listening ear….If you want to make a lot of friends tonight, just listen. ….It’s harder than you might think. Most guys, when they talk to a girl who has a problem, want to tell her what to do. But don’t do it. Just listen.” (pg. 22 )

It doesn’t take long before the truth about Dave’s relationship to Abbie is exposed. Kissing your ‘cousin’ might not be the best idea. Dave begins to realize that convincing Abbie that they should pick up their relationship back in Idaho where they left off before he went on his mission is going to take more time than a quick visit. He decides to move in with Nathan and then gets a job at the Ace Hardware Store. Life goes on, just not in the way Dave would like it to.

Dave now has several women in his life and is trying build a relationship and to find balance and love with one of them. However, all of the women have different plans for their ‘love lives’ and consider Dave as their best ‘guy’ friend. They come to him with their problems and seeking advice and comfort. Dave is determined to stick to Nathan’s ‘No kissing rule’, even if it kills him.

As characters come into the plot line, they all have some sort of a tie to Dave. The girls find love with guys that he knows or seemingly random guys find love with the girls that he knows. This makes for some monotonous reading. The majority of the beginning of the book deals with Dave’s lack of a love life and how he seems to help everyone else find one. In this process Dave seems to reinvent himself to fit into several different roles and relationships.

The author paints a vivid picture from a ’guys’ perspective that seems to be over simplistic and exaggerated at the same time. It was interesting to see the author’s version of how ‘Mormon’ boys feel about relationships, cars, friends, dating and a host of other issues. While it was a nice read, this is one book that only gets a lack luster recommendation.


Copyright 2008