How do you put a price on love?

The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale by Haley McGee

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Publisher’s description:

Haley McGee is in debt. The solution? A yard sale of gifts from her ex-boyfriends.

But when it comes to pricing, she gets stuck. Surely the ways we invest in our romantic relationships should be reflected in the price. But how? Is the mixtape from your first love worth more than the vintage typewriter from a philanderer? Does sitting on an X-Acto knife wedged between seats on a bus to see the boyfriend you lost your virginity to increase or decrease the value of the necklace he gave you? Should you be compensated for the miserable times or do they render an item worthless?

Haley decides to gamble on a larger payout. She interviews her exes and enlists the help of a mathematician to create a formula—with eighty-six variables—for the cost of love. As she's searching for answers, the one that got away reappears with a new proposition.

Female desire, heartbreak and the chance for integrity in the aftermath of both are held up in this whipsmart, original and daringly candid memoir. As Haley McGee interrogates her romantic triumphs and failures with unflinching detail and hilarity, her exquisite prose elevates this all too human conundrum: Is love worth it?

This book had been on my list for a while, but I was inspired to move it to the top after reading this article about Busy Philipps’ divorce sale. When you separate, what do you do with all your shared stuff?

It’s not even that long since my marriage ended (the Facebook announcement popped up in Memories a few days ago) - I mean, it was 2018, but that doesn’t feel so long to me - and yet I can’t remember how or even if we talked about it. I know that when he moved out, he’d packed a couple of bags. I know that when we got the house ready to sell, we (I?) put a bunch of boxes into storage. But I think most if not all of that came to the new house with me and the boys. (And much of it got donated when we moved again two years later.)

Did we just not have that much shared stuff? After almost twenty-five years??