{"product_id":"9781632868800","title":"Hard to Love : Essays and Confessions","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eHard to Love\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Briallen Hopper\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA sharp and entertaining essay collection about the importance of multiple forms of love and friendship in a world designed for couples, from a laser-precise new voice.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSometimes it seems like there are two American creeds, self-reliance and marriage, and neither of them is mine. I experience myself as someone formed and sustained by others' love and patience, by student loans and stipends, by the kindness of strangers.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBriallen Hopper's \u003ci\u003eHard to Love\u003c\/i\u003e honors the categories of loves and relationships beyond marriage, the ones that are often treated as invisible or seen as secondary--friendships, kinship with adult siblings, care teams that form in times of illness, or various alternative family formations. She also values difficult and amorphous loves like loving a challenging job or inanimate objects that can't love you back. She draws from personal experience, sharing stories about her loving but combative family, the fiercely independent Emerson scholar who pushed her away, and the friends who have become her invented or found family; pop culture touchstones like the Women's March, John Green's \u003ci\u003eThe Fault in Our Stars\u003c\/i\u003e, and the timeless series \u003ci\u003eCheers\u003c\/i\u003e; and the work of writers like Joan Didion, Gwendolyn Brooks, Flannery O'Connor, and Herman Melville (\u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e like you've never seen it!).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHard to Love\u003c\/i\u003e pays homage and attention to unlikely friends and lovers both real and fictional. It is a series of love letters to the meaningful, if underappreciated, forms of intimacy and community that are tricky, tangled, and tough, but ultimately sustaining.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Extraordinary. I'll return to this book over and over during the years to come: for its gifts of insight and delight, for the primal and powerful gift of its company.” —\u003ci\u003eLeslie Jamison, author of THE EMPATHY EXAMS and THE RECOVERING\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An exceptional work: an expert tangle of memoir, literary criticism, pop cultural analysis and political meditation that is warm, buoyant, connective, and smart as hell.” —\u003ci\u003eRebecca Traister, author of ALL THE SINGLE LADIES and GOOD AND MAD\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In her rousing essay collection \u003ci\u003eHard To Love\u003c\/i\u003e, Hopper takes us into her unusually expansive love life, complete with knotty familial relationships, deep friendships, and emotional investment in the fictional and material worlds . . . Daring . . . brilliant . . . ingenious.\" - \u003ci\u003eNPR.org\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eAn incredibly thoughtful examination of the various ways we depend upon others, through an expansive and engaging look at love outside a traditional romantic sphere . . . Hopper’s ability to reimagine and celebrate the ties that bind us are something to celebrate.\" - \u003ci\u003eThe New York Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In a society that often values romantic love above all else, nothing is as invigorating as a strong feminist accounting of the different roles women assume throughout life. Hopper discusses an Emersonian boyfriend; spinsters past and present; being and not being a mother; and the power of friendship.” —\u003ci\u003eMs. Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Stunning . . . Prepare to underline vigorously, nod along, and ultimately call your friend to say, 'Thanks.'” —\u003ci\u003eRefinery 29\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The perfect book to give to a friend and read together.” —\u003ci\u003eNylon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I found myself deeply comforted by \u003ci\u003eHard to Love\u003c\/i\u003e. Hopper lets us know: We are not alone in the universe after all.” —\u003ci\u003eJami Attenberg, author of ALL GROWN UP\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hopper's essays seem like love songs . . . delicate, thoughtful elegies to friendship, compassion, and grace. A fresh, well-crafted collection.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I adored \u003ci\u003eHard To Love\u003c\/i\u003e and its miraculous intermingling of revelatory criticism and soulful memoir. In its excesses of tenderness, intelligence, and pleasure, this book brilliantly puts the lie to the idea that a single life is less full--or less complicated--than a coupled one.” —\u003ci\u003eAlice Bolin, author of DEAD GIRLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The best essay collection I've read in ages. Hopper's rare gifts of intellectual rigor, spiritual depth, and genuine curiosity make her a must-read voice on everything she turns her brilliant mind to. She's earned a place as the poet laureate of single womanhood.” —\u003ci\u003eAda Calhoun, author of WEDDING TOASTS I'LL NEVER GIVE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In deft strokes, Hopper reminds us that death-do-us-part romance is not the only way to love, or to live. A satisfying, eye-opening examination.” —\u003ci\u003eEsmé Weijun Wang, author of THE COLLECTED SCHIZOPHRENIAS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Our culture often tells us we have two options: coupled and loved, or alone and unloved. Hopper posits a third option: uncoupled but very much loved and loving. These essays refute our binary assumptions by teasing out the satisfying complexities that lie between and beyond the old poles.” —\u003ci\u003eAnne Fadiman, author of THE WINE LOVER'S DAUGHTER and THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With intrepid imagination, Hopper conjures a world beyond our most imperious cultural assumptions. Read this book.” —\u003ci\u003eGregory Pardlo, author of AIR TRAFFIC\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A compelling, smart collection of essays on relationships of many kinds--hoarding, dependence, female friendship, marriage or lack thereof--from a widely published literary scholar.” —\u003ci\u003eLitHub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A smart group of essays on contemporary relationships. A literature scholar, Hopper cultivates a voice that is sophisticated and analytical, but also earnest and eager, and her strongest essays balance these qualities.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Smart and studied reflections on the power of friendship . . . While families are bound by blood and couples often by the law of marriage, the bonds of friendship expand and contract over time. Hopper fervently embraces this and the rich intimacies it affords.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A refreshing collection that probes the expanse of the human heart.” —\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781632868800\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40686583218382,"sku":"9781632868800","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_252e9d7e-54a3-4bc2-a992-a91a9fd4aeaf.jpg?v=1640232710","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781632868800","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}