The Book of Love: Improvisations on a Crazy Little Thing

In The Book of Love, Roger Rosenblatt explores love in all its moods and variations—romantic love, courtship, battle, mystery, marriage, heartbreak, fury, confusion, melancholy, delirium, ecstasy; love of family, of friends; love of home, of country, of work, of writing, of solitude, of art; love of nature; love of life itself.

Rosenblatt is on a quest to illuminate this elusive and essential emotion, to define this thing called love. Cleverly using lines from love songs to create a flowing ballad—as infectious and engaging as a jazz riff—he intersperses fictional vignettes that capture lovers in different situations, ages, and temperaments along with notes addressed to “you,” his wife of fifty years. “The story I have to tell is of you. Of others, too. Other people, other things. But mainly of you. It begins and ends with you. It always comes back to you.”

Lively yet profound, poignant yet joyous, The Book of Love is a triumph of intellect and imagination: a personal discourse on love that is both novel and timeless. 

Rosenblatt’s exploration is a masterclass in the philosophy of love, weaving together:

• A Lifetime of Love: Intimate, personal notes addressed to the author’s wife of fifty years, forming the heart of this poignant memoir.
• Poetic Meditations: Short, jewel-like chapters that reflect on everything from romantic love and friendship to a love for art, nature, and life itself.
• Fictional Vignettes: Imaginative short stories capturing lovers in different situations, ages, and temperaments, interspersed throughout the narrative.
• A Literary Soundtrack: A flowing ballad, cleverly structured around lines from classic love songs that feels as infectious and engaging as a jazz riff.