Schreiber writes THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY in real time, so the story unfolds to him as it unfolds to us. He takes us through every major and minor emotional thought pattern that enters his head, while a Greek chorus of friends put in their two cents’ worth along the way. It’s classic single-person, angst-ridden, self-centered stuff, but luckily Schreiber knows this and handles the story with a good dose of humor. The big themes are tackled here—questions of fate, love, and whether the world holds only one soul mate per person—and ultimately Schreiber deals with them honestly and poignantly. He might even make you laugh out loud from time to time. He’s a good writer.

Schreiber has dared go where no man (in his right mind) has gone: to his romantic past. Why? To ask his now-married first love the questions most of us are content to leave unanswered. The result is a detailed-rich account of love and loss that is never (well, rarely) sentimental, often hilarious, and always smart. Schreiber’s a guy’s guy who has the balls (and the chops) to write what we have all thought and felt, but have been reluctant to say out loud. He captures what it feels like to grow up, lose, and win (in sports, poker, and in relationships), relate to our fathers, and sweat the big and small stuff. He does it with self-deprecating humor, and such poetic precision, that it’s a pleasure to completely kick back, relax, laugh, think, and totally relate.