created at: 2012-01-10Like many Jewish women, Meredith Goldstein excels at giving advice. Unlike most of them, however, she actually gets paid to do it. Her column Love Letters appears in the Boston Globe every Saturday and draws more than 1 million readers to Boston.com every month. Goldstein also writes features for the Globe and appears on Boston radio. Her first novel, The Singles, is coming out this April.

Dear Abby, Ann Landers, Miss Manners, Meredith Goldstein: All advice columnists, all Jewish. Discuss.

I think it’s a religion and culture that encourages discussion and self-awareness. Not to generalize, but we don’t repress much. Dr. Ruth is also Jewish, by the way. She’s my hero. She should run the world.

created at: 2012-01-10Your new book, The Singles, is about “complicated relationships.” Art imitating life, or vice versa? And is chick lit in the zeitgeist now, or has it always been popular?

It’s art imitating life, for sure. It’s loosely based on a wedding I was in a few years ago, and three major characters are based on ex-boyfriends (yes, they know about the book). And while I do wish chick lit was in the zeitgeist, I think hot teenage vampires are still ruling the bestseller lists. And I’m partly at fault for that. I’ve read Twilight a few too many times. I do hope, of course, that people will read my book despite the lack of supernatural 17-year-olds. I can say for sure that there are more sex scenes in my book than in Twilight.

What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

I went on a date with a guy who ate an entire plate of Buffalo wings and smelled too strongly of them all night. He took me to a small club, and I felt nauseous—like I was trapped in a jar of Buffalo sauce. The smell of Buffalo chicken actually made its way into my book.

Finally, as a diehard Celtics fan, I need to ask: You’ve been to Shaq’s house. What’s Shaq like?

He’s hilarious. Smart, silly, playful. He told me about his college crush on Halle Berry. I saw a pair of his pants laid out on his bed. The man wears big pants. And his girlfriend, Hoopz, she is hilarious—and she gave me good love advice.

created at: 2013-12-12Four Questions is a weekly interview column featuring interesting people connected with the Greater Boston Jewish community. Find past columns here. Have an idea of someone we should interview? Email Molly!

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