Review- Modern Love

Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption

A young woman goes through the five stages of ghosting grief. A man’s promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorce in her seventies looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships.

These are just a few of the people who tell their stories in Modern Love, Revised and Updated, featuring dozens of the most memorable essays to run in The New York Times “Modern Love” column since its debut in 2004.Some of the stories are unconventional, while others hit close to home. Some reveal the way technology has changed dating forever; others explore the timeless struggles experienced by anyone who has ever searched for love. But all of the stories are, above everything else, honest. Together, they tell the larger story of how relationships begin, often fail, and–when we’re lucky–endure.Edited by longtime “Modern Love” editor Daniel Jones and featuring a diverse selection of contributors–including Mindy Hung, Trey Ellis, Ann Hood, Deborah Copaken, Terri Cheney, and more–this is the perfect book for anyone who’s loved, lost, stalked an ex on social media, or pined for true romance: In other words, anyone interested in the endlessly complicated workings of the human heart.

What is a love story?

Modern Love was exactly the kind of essay collection that I needed- so relatable! There are many different kinds of love and I thought that these stories did a great job at reflecting that. I appreciate that it focused more on just romantic love. I wish I had known about The New York Times “Modern Love” column earlier because I love getting a look into the other people’s lives in this way.

This essay collection made me feel a spectrum of emotions- everything from angry to grief. There were articles that were so relatable and I think most people would have experienced something similar. And there were also essays that downright broke my heart. One in particular titled You May Want to Marry My Husband was so devastating but also insanely sweet. Amy had a terminal illness and her essay was written like a dating ad for her husband. Just think about it makes me so emotional. There were a lot of other touching essays. Another one that stands out was written by a woman who brought her husband for a gender-reassignment surgery and explains how it felt for her to now have a wife- so powerful.

I think that my only grip with the collection is that I wanted more. I could have done with more essays, especially more current ones. It seemed as though the majority of the essays were from around 2005 and in some ways felt a little dated. A lot has happened in the last fifteen years, and I think included more recent articles would have helped to reflect that. I guess that means I will just have to start reading the Modern Love column.

I also want to mention that there is a TV series adaptation on Amazon Prime that I plan on watching! If you are interesting, I will write a review for that as well.

Yes! I think anyone who loves love of any kind will appreciate this collection.