Dave Singleton knows women. Or, at least, he knows straight women and the dilemmas they face when it comes to everything from men, dating, fashion and home décor to marriage, children, career and self-esteem.

He understands both the emotional connection some women have with their hair as much as he understands the pressures imposed by the biological clock, and he understands the emotional minefield that is the search for Mr. Right as much as he understands the importance of a good martini and a Sex and the City DVD marathon.

Why? Because Singleton is a gay man and this, he insists, qualifies him in a unique way to give women advice on how best to manage their lives. His book, Behind Every Great Woman There’s a Fabulous Gay Man, is a product of his twenty-plus years playing Will to the many Graces in his life, and in the prologue he states, “You can’t get the type of advice I give you, the way I give it to you, from anyone else”.

When it comes to men, Singleton is able to offer insight as well as empathy without the agenda of expectant relatives or competitive female friends. Singleton’s help, he declares, comes from nothing more than a pure desire to see his fabulous female friends happy.

For any slightly neurotic or fragile single woman who has endured the somewhat emotionally jarring and confronting read about what men really think in 2004’s He’s Just Not That Into You – written by a straight man and endorsed by Oprah – Singleton’s sentiment should be a comforting one.

This is also a sentiment that sets the expectation bar high for a book that articulates and encapsulates the benefits of a straight girl/gay boyfriend relationship, to which Singleton gives an excellent perspective.

This relationship is far more expansive than the stereotype of a co-dependent duo with a common interest in fashion, Madonna and men. For instance, Singleton’s idea that gay men and straight women who are considering alternatives to marriage and babies are both social pioneers who sometimes need to hold each other’s hands for support as they map their lives outside of traditional convention or expectation is a profound one.

So, does the actual advice given by Singleton live up to its powerful social philosophies? Admittedly, much of the advice is hardly groundbreaking, and because the book covers so many topics, there is at times no room for Singleton to elaborate on what he is saying. However, the weaker parts of the book are saved by humour. Lists such as ‘The 10 Things Only Your Gay Best Friend Needs to Know’ and horror stories of suburban bowl cuts and Mr. Wrongs are genuinely funny.

Ultimately, this is a book that deserves to be read because it is an important recognition of the straight woman/gay man relationship. Its ability to jump refreshingly between the light-hearted and the profound with the turn of a page is in itself a celebration of this relationship in all its fabulous complexity.

Behind Every Great Woman There’s a Fabulous Gay Man: Dating Advice from a Guy Who Gives It to You Straight, by Dave Singleton
Publisher: Corgi Adult
Released: 2 April 2007
ISBN: 0552154709

Buy Behind Every Great Woman There’s a Fabulous Gay Man: Dating Advice from a Guy Who Gives It to You Straight and make your own min dup about Singleton’s advice.