Meredith Goldstein's "The Singles"

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Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. Her column Love Letters is a daily dispatch of wisdom for the lovelorn that gets about 1 million page views every month on Boston.com. Love Letters appears in the Globe’s print edition every Saturday. Goldstein also writes about fake rock stars, former boy banders, female werewolves, self-help books, last picture shows, and how to sound like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of The Singles, her debut novel:

Dreaming of my book as a movie is tricky because The Singles has been optioned for film by the folks at Lime Orchard Productions (they made the beautiful movie A Better Life). I’m sure they have their own dream cast.

That said, I do have my own ideas for a magic movie.

The Singles is about the only five dateless guests a memorable wedding in scenic Annapolis. If it were up to me and the movie was being made today, here’s who would play the book’s VIPs:

The character Hannah Martin is a casting director from New York City who’s stressed about being a bridesmaid -- and about seeing her ex for the first time in years. I’ve always had a tough time casting her, but I always go back to Emma Stone. I know she’s an obvious choice, but she’s always a good one.

Rob is the heartthrob of the book. He’s also the friend who doesn’t bother to show up to the wedding. He’s emotionally unavailable and loves his dog more than he loves people. I have to admit that I named him after Robert Pattinson, so I could see Robert Pattinson in the role. I’d also love to see Boston guy Chris Evans as Rob. I live in Boston, so I always root for the locals.

Vicki is Hannah’s best friend. She’s a bit depressed and addicted to romance novels. Vicki could be played by my actress crush of the moment, Felicity Jones. If you haven’t seen her in the movie Like Crazy, please do.

Phil is a ballpark security guard who doesn’t know anyone at the wedding. A friend once told me that they could see Jason Segel playing him in a movie. That would work. I’d also love to see someone like Corey Stoll as Phil. Stoll played Hemingway in Midnight in Paris and I think he’s brilliant.

Joe is the inappropriate uncle of the bride who’d rather hang out with the twenty-something guests than people his own age. I always pictured him as John Slattery from Mad Men.

Dawn, the matron of honor, is a professional beauty pageant coach who’s a bit younger than the other characters. Many people who read the The Singles tell me that she’s the best part of the book. I’d love her to be played by Miley Cyrus. I know that sounds crazy, but I know she’d nail it.

Bee is my bride. She’s sweet and insecure, although she’s smarter than she seems. Her single guests wreak havoc on her wedding but she takes it all in stride. Staying loyal to Boston, Bee would either be Eliza Coupe from Happy Endings (she’s from New Hampshire) or Boston actress Julia Jones.

Jimmy Fee is the very attractive brother of the groom who causes the best kind of trouble. He’s Ian Somerhalder in my fantasy movie. Without a doubt.

Learn more about the book and author at Meredith Goldstein's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Singles.

--Marshal Zeringue