From Junot DA?az, 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.
Review
"Pretty irresistible. Some of that has to do with the subject, of course: literature and heartbreak go together like Anna and Vronsky. And a lot of it has to do with the tone--the usual
regret, shame, and pain are leavened here with a generous tablespoon of wry humor."
-Greg Cowles, New York Times "Paper Cuts"
"The humiliating and occasionally hilarious break-ups described in Love Is a Four-Letter Word...run the emotional gamut from neediness and infatuation to rage and disgust."
-Wall Street Journal
"Love Is a Four-Letter Word offers flashes of insights from well-known writers about love gone wrong... The pieces sparkle with wit, pain and honesty."
-Bookpage
“A book full of hits . . . Breakups are hard to forget, and this collection—surprisingly restrained yet full of emotion—is equally memorable.”—Publishers Weekly
“As hard to avert your eyes from as a traffic accident . . . This is not a pity party. No, in the essays carrying the biggest charge here, the authors anatomize their own complicity and duplicity.” —Elle
About the Author
Michael Taeckens is the publicity director for Algonquin Books and received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
