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heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful. About resisting and submitting to love, about grief, about the intricacies of families, of being a gay man in California in the 1980s, and just a fantastic memoir. Also makes me want to go to Paris - love the Francophile bits! Favorite quote: "I just want to sit here and be quiet with you." (a sort of definition of love and what's enough). The interplay of a Catholic and Jewish family also adds wonderful texture and richness.
carlyoc's review against another edition
3.0
Very much not my usual genre but a moving book nonetheless. Some deep insights into grief and love and how they interact.
dawn_serra's review against another edition
5.0
The single most powerful look at love, pain, loss, grief, and human connection that I have ever read.
Fenton Johnson slowly unravels his own journey from that of a man full of fear and resistance to love towards a man completely open to the most intimate, tender love as his lover faced (and succumbed) to death.
Gently revealing his family history and the history of his lover as we journey with Johnson towards an inevitable and shattering end, this love story is the most exquisite and touching account of love I've ever encountered.
Brutally honest about his own short-comings and failures, the vulnerability that Johnson spills across the pages of his story is simply breathtaking.
A must read for anyone and everyone seeking to expand their own understanding of love and grief.
Fenton Johnson slowly unravels his own journey from that of a man full of fear and resistance to love towards a man completely open to the most intimate, tender love as his lover faced (and succumbed) to death.
Gently revealing his family history and the history of his lover as we journey with Johnson towards an inevitable and shattering end, this love story is the most exquisite and touching account of love I've ever encountered.
Brutally honest about his own short-comings and failures, the vulnerability that Johnson spills across the pages of his story is simply breathtaking.
A must read for anyone and everyone seeking to expand their own understanding of love and grief.
spygrl137's review against another edition
3.0
Non fiction, well written. I got frustrated with the author at times, but I appreciated that because he was being honest about his thoughts and memories when many of us would want to edit out our less generous selves. As much as I'd like to absorb the lessons he learned without experiencing such grief, I don't think that's really possible. There is a disconnect between the lessons he learned and his view on life, and mine, and i don't think this book can come close to bridging that gap.
katiekatinahat's review against another edition
4.0
To love is to give oneself to another, to entrust to someone else a power that all good sense would have us reserve to ourselves. So we give away some part of ourselves, to find that part returned to us tenfold, in ways we could never have predicted and cannot rationally understand. Loaves and fishes. Miracles happen.
This book made me cry. The writing was very lovely and it was a really interesting perspective on love, grief, and memory.
This book made me cry. The writing was very lovely and it was a really interesting perspective on love, grief, and memory.
rbiddy's review
3.0
But now I know in my heart what before I understood only in my head: we don't fall in love for reasons.
This is one of those books that somehow manages to be uplifting and depressing at the same time, along the same lines as "The Year of [b:Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165644384s/7815.jpg|1659905]"
[b:The Year of Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165644384s/7815.jpg|1659905]
This is one of those books that somehow manages to be uplifting and depressing at the same time, along the same lines as "The Year of [b:Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165644384s/7815.jpg|1659905]"
[b:The Year of Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165644384s/7815.jpg|1659905]
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