Love Is a Four-Letter Word: True Stories of Breakups, Bad Relationships, and Broken Hearts by Michael Taeckens (Editor), Neal Pollack (Introduction)

From the Publisher

From Junot Díaz, Lynda Barry, Gary Shteyngart, and Kate Christensen to popular up-and-comers like Dan Kennedy, Wendy McClure, and Brock Clarke, Love Is a Four-Letter Word is a dead-on contemporary collection of true stories of seduction, heartbreak, and regret. Fearlessly revealing their shattered hearts and crushed egos; their indiscretions and indignities; their delusions, desperation, and disappointments, these talented writers capture the dark side of love in prose ranging from comic to poetic, poignant to cringe-inducing. Also featuring three cartoon/ graphic essays as a sixteen-page color insert, this anthology is perfect for anyone who's ever loved and lost.

Publishers Weekly

Breakups are hard to forget, and this collection-surprisingly restrained yet full of emotion-is equally memorable. Patty Van Norman's two-frame graphic story "Dear Ugly, Dear Fatso" (other graphic entries are from Lynda Barry and Emily Flake) resonates like a quick punch to the solar plexus. Josh Kilmer-Purcell writes of the lover who could only perform with Wonder Woman on the television. George Singleton urinates a bellyful of beer into his ex's kitty litter box. Maud Newton tells of a sex- and rage-filled relationship, wondering: "was he the abusive one, or was I?" Taeckens, publicity director at Algonquin Books, anthologizes modern heartbreak in stories replete with contemporary commentaries (e.g., using Match.com to express a new relationship status). In a book full of hits, Amanda Stern's "Scout's Honor," about camping in the Washington Cascades, stands out. The collection's material could make one feel a bit voyeuristic, but throughout this tender book one instead feels like a privileged confidant. (July 28)

Kirkus Reviews

A compendium of personal essays and cartoons about heartbreak, penned by 23 contemporary American writers. Editor Taeckens, publicity director for Algonquin Books, gathers a disparate group to share their private travails about love gone wrong. The authors range from married to single, straight to gay and transgendered, and they describe vastly different periods of their lives, from Patty Van Norman's messily scrawled childhood breakup letter ("Dear Ugly and Dear Fatso") to Jami Attenberg's cynical account of a near-reconciliation with a cheating boyfriend, composed in the second person. Many of the stories voice a shared sentiment-a desire to be loved the way the authors have always wanted. Standouts include Junot D'az's "Homecoming, with Turtle," Gary Shteyngart's "Texas" and Maud Newton's "Conversations You Have at Twenty." Humorist Dan Kennedy, author of the acerbic 2008 memoir Rock On, crafts a hilarious piece about dating a divorced aerobics instructor a decade older than he, but Josh Kilmer-Purcell's account of devoting a year to matching his age (25) with casual sex partners falls flat. In "Leave Me Something When You Leave Me," Brock Clarke experiments with repetition, but the result is a grating mess with none of the dark wit that distinguished his acclaimed 2007 novel, An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England. Kate Christensen writes sparingly of the affair she almost had with a sophomoric high-school teacher, who didn't recognize her after she gained weight. Taeckens contributes an account of his unhealthy entanglement with a cheating teacher (not his). Other contributors include Lynda Barry, Jennifer Finney Boylan and Emily Flake. As is often true of anthologies,uneven but rewarding and worth dipping into from time to time.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents