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A People Top 10 Book of 2018*
The New York Times essayist and author of We Learn Nothing, Tim Kreider trains his singular power of observation on his (often befuddling) relationships with women.Psychologists have told him he's a psychologist. Philosophers have told him he's a philosopher. Religious groups have invited him to speak. He had a cult following as a cartoonist. But, above all else, Tim Kreider is an essayist--one whose deft prose, uncanny observations, dark humor, and emotional vulnerability have earned him deserved comparisons to David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, and the late David Foster Wallace (who was himself a fan of Kreider's humor).
"Beautifully written, with just enough humor to balance his spikiness" (
Booklist),
I Wrote This Book Because I Love You focuses Tim's unique perception and wit on his relationships with women--romantic, platonic, and the murky in-between. He talks about his difficulty finding lasting love and seeks to understand his commitment issues by tracking down the John Hopkins psychologist who tested him for a groundbreaking study on attachment when he was a toddler. He talks about his valued female friendships, one of which landed him on a circus train bound for Mexico. He talks about his time teaching young women at an upstate New York college, and the profound lessons they wound up teaching him. And in a hugely popular essay that originally appeared in
The New York Times, he talks about his nineteen-year-old cat, wondering if it's the most enduring relationship he'll ever have.
"In a style reminiscent of Orwell, E.B. White and David Sedaris" (
The New York Times Book Review), each of these pieces is "heartbreaking, brutal, and hilarious" (Judd Apatow), and collectively they cement Kreider's place among the best essayists working today.
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