Plot: Though it may in part revere the tall, essayist Cohen proclaims, clearly “society is not built for us.” Six-foot-three Cohen (Confessions of a High School Word Nerd) covers many taken-for-granted challenges facing “talls,” including public toilets, exercise bikes, doorways, couches and airplanes. Especially complicated is dating; some tall women would never “date down”-that is, a man shorter than they are-while other talls (i.e. men) refuse to date anyone but the short. Being tall costs more, due to expenses like “double-price clothes,” “high ceilinged homes,” and “the food,” but it also pays better: tall people earn approximately 2.5% more per inch. Height also helps get presidents elected; 26 out of the last 30 presidential contests went to the taller candidate. Cohen has been frustrated, ever since she was a 5’3″ eight-year-old that no one has written a book about tall people (“The Dewey Decimal index didn’t even assign a classification number to tall people. Surely the world kidded”). She fixes that problem handily with a guide both practical and proud, and with enough self-deprecating humor to charm readers of any height; an ideal gift for talls, their loved ones, and (perhaps) their jealous detractors.
Allyson told me about this book, it was reviewed in People Magazine and given 4/4 stars. It immediately caught my attention obviously because I am tall. All I can say is…wow. This book highly impressed me and I absolutely loved it. It was extremely well researched, hit it right on the head of life as a tall, and was extremely interesting to read. I truly connected to this author also because so many of our experiences were similar, including loving how tall everyone was in the Netherlands and being swimmers.
I don’t recommend this book to everyone, but I DO recommend this book to people who are 5’10 and over.
I don’t want to give anything away, but I give this book 4/5 stars.
