Ask Amy: Advice for Better Living

by Amy Dickinson

For a decade, Amy Dickinson has been the Chicago Tribune 's signature general advice columnist, helping readers with questions both personal and pressing. Her column is syndicated in over 150 newspapers nationally and internationally, and Ask Advice for Better Living is the very first collection of her daily columns, which are read by an estimated 22 million people.

Featuring over 200 question-and-answer columns taken from 2011–2013, this book is filled with warm, witty, and insightful advice. After taking over for the legendary advice columnist Ann Landers in 2003, Dickinson charmed her way into readers' lives with her sensible takes on etiquette, relationships, and the gray areas of day-to-day life. Her wry humor and practical wisdom comes through in her eloquently crafted tips on problems both personal and professional.

Broken down into distinct categories, Dickinson tackles issues ranging from marital to financial, familial to romantic. Having trouble with in-laws, online platforms, or a pesky sibling? Dickinson has answers for those questions and more. She's not one to mince words, and faces the problems head-on with honest and thoughtful advice. Ask Advice for Better Living is a great collection to have on hand, written in the tone of a best friend who gives the hard truth and a comforting hand in troubled times.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2013

About the author

Amy Dickinson joined Chicago Tribune in July 2003 as the newspaper's signature general advice columnist, following in the tradition of the legendary Ann Landers.

Prior to the Tribune, Dickinson was a frequent contributor to Time magazine, where she penned a column about family life, often drawing from her experiences as a single parent and member of a large, extended family.

In addition to writing for Time, Dickinson provided commentary for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and to "Sunday Morning" on CBS. She worked as a producer for NBC News in New York and Washington, D.C., and has written for The Washington Post, Esquire, Allure and O magazine, among other publications. In the early days of the Internet, she wrote a weekly column, carried on America Online's News Channel.

Dickinson hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York and is a distant relative of poet Emily Dickinson. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and lives in Chicago with her teenage daughter.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is collection of advice columns from the woman who took over from Dear Abby/Ann Landers (not the same, but I can't remember which one). Her advice seems sound in most cases, and would be interesting if read in a daily newspaper one by one, but the collection isn't worth it. Unlike that mistress of the advice-column compilation, Miss Manners (Judith Martin), Dickinson's columns are lacking in the humor and je ne sais quoi that would make the book more interesting reading. The book ends abruptly.

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a reader of her column since 2007 and I remember when she had a hiatus to write her book so I was interested in reading this. I found out it was just a bunch of different columns put together and organized by vague topic which was disappointing, but then I realized she still has a real memoir for me to go to so this book went by quicker. None of the advice is life changing but it's nice and comforting. I wish they picked more out of the box questions and categories.

[Hez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of Amy's newspaper columns are well-written, poignant, insightful reflections. I expected this book would be a collection of the best, but it was mostly short, succinct exchanges, none of which were extraordinary. I was really disappointed. Even so, I am going to give her memoir a try with the hope I'll find the sort of Amy's writing I so thoroughly enjoy.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Practical advice, often humorous, all in short letter-sized packages that are perfect for reading while waiting for your kid to emerge from practice, entertaining yourself in the waiting room, or just needing light reading. The big question for me is, who are all these people who can’t seem to set boundaries for themselves and others?

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love advice columns. Well written, they give new insights to common problems. Interesting questions get me serving up my opinion, and I find these things easy to discuss and think about. This was a decent example.

[sg.00 macc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light reading. I love the column and liked the book.

[golightly23 · Rating 1 out of 5]

So hard to give good advice when only one side is presented. Amy seems to make a lot of assumptions which I guess must be expected when you are only hearing one side. Wouldn't it be nice if two parties could share in the experience so that Amy isn't "taking sides" but actually helping those that seek her advice or actually confirming her assumptions rather than assuming she must be correct. I found it frustrating because more times than not I found myself thinking, "there has to be more to the story." Most of her advice seems more like "who's side am I on" rather than giving useful advice. Lesson learned...never write to "Dear Amy" if I am actually seeking real advice; talk to someone who actually has some sort of qualifications. Glad it's over and glad I didn't pay for this book.