A freelance writer, literary critic and editor, Meredith Broussard is only recently a Philadelphian; but she already trash-talks SEPTA like a lifelong resident. Meredith (along with several contributing authors) will be reading from her latest anthology: The Encyclopedia of Exes: 26 Stories by Men of Love Gone Wrong at the Avenue of the Arts Borders tonight at 7 p.m. She kindly agreed to chat with Phillyist via email about the book, blogging, and how failed romance can lead to love, marriage and the baby carriage (at least in the literary world).

You're the editor for Encyclopedia of the Exes: 26 Stories by Men of Love Gone Wrong (as well as its precursor- The Dictionary of Failed Relationships: 26 Stories of Love Gone Wrong). For the nonliterary among us, can you briefly explain what that entails, aside from you sitting around with a large red pencil correcting everyone's grammar?

When you edit an anthology, you’re essentially a curator: your job is to seek out literary talent, figure out whether the writer has written or is willing to write something that fits the theme of the project, and then work with the writer to make sure it gets into the book. For the first book, I felt like it was important to get an all-female perspective on relationship disasters. Then I got curious about what guys thought, and so I did another book.

It’s an obscure field, anthology editing, but there are more and more of us out there. Other great anthologies that have come out recently include MIXED: An Anthology of Short Stories on the Multiracial Experience, edited by Chandra Prasad, and Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, edited by Kevin Smokler.

The other way to look at an anthology is to consider it a literary mix tape. I hope that people read the short stories in my anthologies, then go out and buy all the other books written by these authors—much like you hear a song on a compilation, then go and get the whole album.

First the dictionary, then the encyclopedia; you seem to have a penchant for the reference book format. Do you have a favorite reference book?

How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman. I like that it’s written in clear prose, not foodie-speak; the recipes are short and don’t require complicated preparation or ingredients. He talks about modification options, too, which is good for me—I somehow never manage to have every single ingredient for a recipe in the house at one time. Brown sugar, for example. Every time I go to make cookies, I have to use white sugar and molasses, because I never have brown sugar around.

There’s some sort of race joke there, isn’t there?

Although Encyclopedia of the Exes contains stories by men - it is being marketed towards the female market. In fact, the synopsis specifies that it "demystifies the inner workings of the male psyche to the benefit of women everywhere..."). Do you think men are less interested in reading about the disillusion of romance than women?

There have been studies showing that women read more than men, though I think that romance is a topic of equal interest to both genders. I know that my men and women friends agonize equally about relationships gone bad.

One of your contributors, Jonathan Lethem, was recently rewarded a 'genius' grant from the MacArthur Foundation. What was it like working with a bona fide genius?

Isn’t that great about the MacArthur? I couldn’t be happier for Jonathan.

In college, there was a resident advisor who was not only a MacArthur genius who did something like solve Fermet’s Last Theorem, but he could also sing two different notes simultaneously. I think he would sing one and hum the other. He was a whiz on the harpsichord, too.

I appreciate the fact that you don't consider yourself an expert in romance despite putting two collections on the topic together. But putting the "expert" moniker aside, do you feel like you've gleaned any bits of Romantic Truth from your work on your Dictionary and Encyclopedia? (And if so, could you please share it with the rest of us)?

The Dictionary got its start after I had a really bad breakup, where this guy cheated on me. Twice. With a woman who lived two floors down in my apartment building. I think that was the point where I really stopped putting up with nonsense in relationships—I had this epiphany that I wasn’t getting any younger, and I was dead tired of dating bullshit artists.

Also, I think that people are sort of scared to date someone who writes about failed relationships. There’s a disincentive to treat the writer badly. Maybe that’s my advice: be a loudmouth about what you’re looking for, and what you’re not willing to put up with. If I were still dating, I’d totally blog about the boys I dated.

Interesting facts: a whole slew of writers in the Dictionary got married or engaged over the course of the project. With the guys in the Encyclopedia, there were more babies than marriages: there was this one week where two of the guys became fathers for the first time, and my head was practically spinning with joy. Babies and weddings are my favorite things. Apparently, there’s some sort of correlation between writing about relationship failures, and having personal relationship success.

Exes delves into some emotionally dark and awkward places. Did this affect you at all when you were getting the collection together - or change the way you look at any of the relationships in your life (past or present)?

Actually, the dark and awkward places are the ones I like to visit in fiction—I think they’re the most honest. One of the reasons we read fiction is to recognize parts of ourselves in characters, and it makes us feel less alone. For example, we all have these crazy things that we do in private, that sound really weird but are kind of funny. There’s a great line in Lee Klein’s story “Nightlife” about doing nothing: it starts “While you were wasting the night in your bedroom ( reading your own writing, drinking too much orange juice, fingering your earholes), she was splitting a big bottle of Champagne, then switching to Maker’s Mark, smoothing the transition from one to the other with Valium.” Can’t you just see the narrator sitting there at his desk, doing the kind stuff that you do when you think nobody’s watching?

I’m also fascinated by the bizarre thoughts and urges people have after a relationship ends. Maybe you think it would be a good idea to have the person tarred and feathered; maybe you fantasize about being the last couple on the Earth after a nuclear attack, and then telling your ex to go piss up a rope. That’s cool. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to act on any of it. Getting creative about your hostility is healthy.

If so, how'd you deal with it? Would you recommend a similar remedy for dealing with the end of a romance?

I think the end of a romance should be commemorated by taking everything that your ex gave you, or anything that reminds you of your ex, and putting it into a box. Then, store the box in the attic—better yet, chuck it. Then, you should hang out with your friends and try to have a good time (however manic) until you’ve sort of distracted yourself from the ex. Then, you should start dating someone else.

Alternatively, I think a little therapy never hurts. My parents were both shrinks, and I think mental health services are woefully under-utilized. Whenever I run into someone who’s all, “Oh, I just want to tough it out and get over it in my own time,” it drives me crazy. I don’t get the stigma associated with going to the shrink.

As a writer yourself, how do you think Philadelphia fares as a city for writers and artists?

It’s fucking rad! Unlike New York, you can afford to live in Philly and work as an artist. If you’re a writer, you can buy an entire house in a decent neighborhood and not stress about the mortgage. In New York, you’d be saving for years just to get a studio apartment.

A friend told me recently about a girl who just graduated from a good school and got a job as an assistant at Random House—but she’s considering leaving the job already because she can’t find an affordable place to live. I mean, what is that? You get a terrific entry-level job, with benefits and whatever, but you still can’t afford to live?

If this is the case in a giant industry like publishing, what kind of future is there for artists if the only people who can afford to make art are the people whose families can subsidize their existence? Screw that. To be an artist, you need to be able to live as an artist, and you need to be able to support yourself. Personally, I think that cities should be supporting artists more. Why not create some affordable housing for artists, for example?

I do have a couple of quality of life issues I’d like fixed in Philly, however. First: SEPTA is the pits. I lived here for three years before I figured out how to use public transportation. And I still get yelled at when I go to the token booth, because there are all sorts of arcane rules about putting the coins into the right slot. Why can’t SEPTA just convert to a Metrocard system and be done with it? Also: you can never tell if a taxi is free or occupied, because they don’t use the little lights on the tops of the cars. In New York, the light is off when the meter is on, and you can always tell if a cab is available or not. That makes sense. In Philly, it’s a taxicab free-for-all. I hate that.

Your blog, The Blog of Failed Relationships seems to be more about you, your life, and living in the Philadelphia area than about relationships in your life that have gone wrong. Do you think blogging about break-ups is a viable use of (a very public) personal journal - or do you think that sort of thing should stay in locked up pen-and-ink diaries in order to protect the innocent?

A personal blog is the appropriate place to say all sorts of inappropriate stuff. I mean, who is interested in hearing everything you have to say about the process of buying shoes for a wedding? Your blog, that’s who. Radical half-assed political views? Your blog loves them. Slept with a guy whose bits were shaped like a duck? Blog. No question about it.

I got really excited when the August issue of Money magazine came out, because it named my hometown, Moorestown, NJ, the “Best Town in America.” The first thing I did was blog about it—largely because I was so excited, I knew I’d bore my friends. A sample dialogue:

Mer: My house was just on the cover of Money magazine! I grew up in the Best House in America!

Friend: Why are you reading Money magazine?

Mer: Because my hometown was named the Best Town in America.

Friend: That’s right, I forgot you grew up in New Jersey. (shudder) Whatever.

Blogs I read today: Jennifer Weiner’s Snarkspot (Jen contributed to the Dictionary of Failed Relationships, and I’m psyched to see the movie of In Her Shoes) and Christopher Dickey’s Shadowlands. I’ve also been reading a lot of baby blogs, modern design blogs, and home repair blogs recently.

Because, above all things, Phillyist is a blog about Philadelphia - we have to ask: Although breaking up is always hard to do - if it must be done - where in Philly is the best place to do it?

Breaking up must happen offsite. You need to be able to leave the premises; if the person is at your place, you can’t easily get rid of them. If you’re in public, it prevents tears and excessively dramatic behavior—usually. I once broke up with someone who tried to woo me afterward with expensive ‘just-friends’ dinners. It always ended badly. There were scenes.

Some of my favorite picturesque spots are the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton; the small garden on Chestnut Street somewhere between 16th and 19th; or the Bio-Pond at the University of Pennsylvania, which is right next to the Louis Kahn building that’s in the movie My Architect. The Bio-Pond has ducks and koi, too. If you meet up in a picturesque spot, and you have a good time together, you might feel inspired not to break up at all.

Meredith Broussard, Anthony Schneider, Jack Mornighan and Nick Folwer read from The Encyclopedia of Exes
Wednesday, October 19th 7 p.m.
Borders Bookstore
1 South Broad Street