The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook

Edward Middleton has just been dumped via Dear John letter. His girlfriend, Jane (or perhaps now ex-girlfriend), of 10 years has packed and moved to Tibet for 3 months. The gist of the letter: "I would say it's not you, it's me. But the truth is, it's you. You've let yourself go, so I'm letting you go." Edward is heartbroken, but with the help of his womanizing friend Dan, he comes up with a plan to get Jane back. Edward has just three shorts month to get himself into shape and win back Jane.
The whole process is completely hilarious. Edward was completely oblivious to how Jane felt, and couldn't understand why she left him. His friends, Dan and Wendy give him a huge wake-up call. Suddenly, Edward is questioning his entire existence, and what is that existence without Jane? His only thought is that he must become the man Jane wants and win her back, but how to go about doing that is a bit tricky.
Dan, a guy who uses women like tissues, analyzes Edward's flaws, both physical and personal, and draws up a plan to make Edward attract women again. His process is a little flawed, as Dan seems to be doing most of the attracting.
Though Dan is helping him learn personal skills, and how to talk to and treat women, he decides he needs some professional help for the physical part. So, he hires a personal trainer, Sam. Sam isn't quite what Edward expected; for one thing, she's a woman, and second, she is tough as nails. The first session has Edward close to death.
     Things aren't going so well with Edward's "make-over". It's so much harder than he thought it would be, and he wonders if he can really do this... if he can actually transform himself. And if not, is he prepared to lose Jane forever.
     Edward is a very endearing character, and really enjoyed watching his personal evolution. Dan is just horrible, but in a hysterical way. He's blunt and crude, and he and Wendy are constantly fighting back and forth, verbally beating one another. Having such opposing characters really made the book enjoyable. The whole book was just hilarious, and I really got invested in what was going to happen to Edward, but I got a little sick of him whining about Jane. What was so great about her anyway? She sounded kind of awful to me. Some of my favorite parts are of Edward fumbling around trying to talk to other women, or pick them up. It was like watching a car crash; you wanted to stop looking, but you couldn't. I would consider this a chick lit type of novel, but from the male perspective, which is kind of cool and different. The story is set in Brighton, so be prepared for a lot of Brit-speak. In general,the whole feel of the book reminded me of the movie "Forgetting Sara Marshall", which I loved, and that made it hard to put down.