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The Lover's Dictionary
224 pages
A fragmented, intimate autopsy of a modern romance told entirely through dictionary entries.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sifting through a box of a stranger's most intimate love letters. Because it is structured as a series of dictionary entries, the narrative unfolds in a non-linear, fragmented mosaic that perfectly mimics the way we actually remember relationships—in flashes of profound joy, mundane arguments, and quiet heartbreak. The pace is brisk, pulling you from one sharp, aphoristic entry to the next, yet the prose is so precise and lyrical that you will find yourself pausing to let the emotional weight of a single sentence settle. It is a deeply tender, bittersweet, and vulnerable reading experience. This will delight readers who crave unconventional storytelling and honest, unvarnished explorations of how love actually feels, fractures, and endures.
- Mood
- tender
- melancholic
- nostalgic
- quiet
- Tone
- intimate
- reflective
- vulnerable
- bittersweet
- wry
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the anatomy of a relationship · the inadequacy of language · infidelity and forgiveness · memory and time · the profound in the mundane
- The writing
- Lyrical, precise, and aphoristic, using the constraints of dictionary definitions to distill complex emotions into sharp, poetic fragments.
- The arc
- Moves from the dizzying heights of new love through the painful fractures of betrayal, settling into a fragile, realistic hope.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love unconventional narrative structures, poetic prose, and deeply honest, unvarnished explorations of modern romance.
Content notes
- infidelity
- alcohol use
About the book
There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you're in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.
If the moment doesn't pass, that's it―you're done. And if the moment does pass, it never goes that far. It stands in the distance, ready for whenever you want it back. Sometimes it's even there when you thought you were searching for something else, like an escape route, or your lover's face.
How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.
Description from Open Library.
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