Anti-advice columnist’s satire appealing

Oregon Daily Emerald - 08/23/00

The success of the Help Me Harlan! author’s witty retorts to college students has lead to a new book.

No topic is taboo in Harlan Cohen's new book, which is now on the stands. Harlan Cohen grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago and studied at Indiana University, receiving a journalism degree. After working as a columnist for the campus paper, the Indiana Daily Student, he spent the summer of 1995 as an intern for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

That summer, he visualized creating a national forum where college students and young adults could share their thoughts and receive laid-back responses full of useful information and humor. Help Me Harlan! was created for the students of IU from Cohen's visualization.

When he met with the editors of the Indiana Daily Student to propose his idea, they wanted sample columns, which he wrote using his own personal problems. They took the bait with the catchy Q&A, and the column began its life in the paper.

Starting off slow, Cohen was forced to write and answer letters to himself to publish in the paper. When he noticed he was actually helping himself, he realized he might be onto something and began writing up his friends lives. Before long, real letters were rolling in, seeking advice on issues ranging from roommates, relationships, sex, loneliness, drinking, drugs and parent issues.

"This whole thing has been a challenge," Cohen said. "I want to keep it consistent, funny. I want people to open up."

Six years later, the column appears in more than 60 daily and college newspapers and can be accessed on the Web at http://www.helpmeharlan.com. With established success and a plethora of answered letters ­­ currently rolling in at more than 100 a week ­­ to choose from, Cohen is now publishing his first book, due out this month.

"Campus Life Exposed: Advice from the Inside" reads a little like "Chicken Soup for the College Soul" meets Dave Barry. The book is on sale at most major book retailers including Borders and Barnes and Noble.

Chapters include "And the Minivan Pulls Away," "Dating and Hooking Up on Campus: The Most Important Chapter" and "No One Ever Said College Would Suck and Other Random Problems."
Cohen spent three years working on the book, compiling letters from his column and personal stories, as well as the stories from hundreds of college students nationwide.

The issues Cohen addresses are a universal part of college life and the reason his column is being syndicated by TMS Campus, which will soon distribute his words of wisdom and wit to more than 200 daily and college papers and 60 high school publications.

The following excerpt is part of Cohen's introduction to Chapter 2: "My disgusting, angry, irresponsible, alcoholic, pot-smoking roommate."

"Before you get any further into this chapter, I want to remind you that not all roommate situations belong in a chapter on dysfunctional roommates. While the following pages might make it seem like you're destined to live with an angry, oversexed, underachieving, beer-drinking, drug-sniffing, masturbating, inconsiderate, lying, stealing, cheating, psycho roommate, chances are you will end up with none of the above.

"Then again, there is the chance you might. If that's the case, you're actually lucky because this may be the only time in your life that you'll be able to live with a totally insane, alcohol-swilling, beer-drinking, snoring, gas-expelling, feet-stinking roommate. (Then again, if you ever shared a room with a brother who drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney, touched himself, ate lots of roughage and bathed irregularly, this kind of roommate might actually be comforting to you!)"

The success of Cohen's column stems from the fact that it is actually an anti-advice column. He says he feels most advice columns are very "blah" and tries "to make it sarcastic and funny at times but with an underlying theme that we're all part of the same community."

"You don't see it in the brochures that college might actually suck at times," he said.

"Campus Life Exposed" is more than just 250 pages of college-geared Dear Abby. It's an honest insight into the ironies of campus life, complete with all of the struggles and humor that make college such an experience. And with Harlan Cohen's help, you might actually get some good advice.