A compulsively readable behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the weddings section of The New York Times — the good, bad, and just plain weird — through the eyes of a young reporter just as she's falling in love herself.
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Advance praise for MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS:
“If your weekends consist of devouring the weddings section of The New York Times, Cate Doty's Mergers and Acquisitions needs to be on your TBR list.”
Marie Claire
“Mergers & Acquisitions, former New York Times journalist Cate Doty’s account of her time on the weddings beat, is a reception-worthy buffet of juicy backstories that didn’t make it into print, including her own.”
Martha Stewart Living
“Laced with frank reflection and entertaining anecdotes, this is a winning portrait of love and ambition in the 21st century.”
Publishers Weekly
“Amusing and well-written.”
Kirkus
“Cate Doty's dishy memoir is a deep dive into New York City's high society, as well as the wedding industry at large.”
Popsugar
“She's seen it all: From true love to bridezillas and everything in between. And now, she's spilling all the dirty details and insightful life lessons into this memoir you won't be able to put down.”
Better Homes and Gardens
“With self-deprecating wit, wry humor and a keen eye for details both ridiculous and heartwarming, Mergers and Acquisitions is a snapshot of a particular era in both journalism and the wedding industry as well as a thoughtful meditation on love itself.”
Shelf Awareness
“Doty's love-filled memoir will delight readers hoping for an inside look at the wedding section, and fans of uplifting memoirs.”
Library Journal
“Perfect for: fans of Southern Lady Code, From the Corner of the Oval, and From Here to Eternity.”
Country Living
“A behind-the-scenes memoir that shines a light on the wedding section of the New York Times from a Southern romantic.”
Zibby Owens
“Anyone who enjoys ogling the love lives of couples featured in the newspaper (guilty!) won’t be able to put down this entertaining, behind-the-scenes expose, which examines the drive to have nuptials announced and how it says as much about privilege as it does about true love."
Kate Bolick, bestselling author of Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own
“Cate Doty's MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS is a delicious confection, filled with swirling layers of history and politics, journalism and gossip, etiquette and fashion, plus family ties, morals and immorals, and, of course—and thank goodness—romance and love, just as any book about weddings (and weddings themselves) should be.”
Jen Doll, author of Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest
“Mergers and Acquisitions: (Or, Everything I Know about Love I learned on the Wedding Pages) is funny, smart, biting, and highly entertaining. Navigating the world of weddings can’t be easy, but Cate handles it fearlessly with to-the-point sass in this eye-opening expose.”
Jen Lancaster, New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Is the New Black
“In a compelling memoir, Cate Doty offers us a rare, insider look into the hermetically sealed decision-making process that so much of the world obsesses over—the wedding announcements of The New York Times and who gets in and why or why not. While inspiring us with the sweetness of her own journey in finding love, Mergers and Acquisitions also reveals the storybook weddings may not be as picture-perfect as the photos that accompany them."
Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
"I tore through Cate Doty's book, which is equal parts charming, addictive, funny, and poignant. Doty's stories about working at the New York Times, brilliantly intertwined with her personal experiences with love, lift the veil (pun intended) on both high society and the human condition."
Amy Odell, author of Tales from the Back Row: An Outsider's View from Inside the Fashion Industry
"Hilarious and moving, Doty writes about an industry from the outside in. She illuminates how our appetite for the bouquets, canapés, and artifice exist alongside our desire for the unspoken elements of weddings—the hangovers, cold feet, and gaudy diamonds. At its heart, this is as much a love story between two people as between a writer and her craft.”
Ellen O'Connell Whittet, author of What You Become in Flight
Book cover design by Sandra Chiu and Anthony Ramondo.