I first came across this novel at the Harvard bookstore where a snarky clerk had written on the Staff Picks comment card: “If you’ve not read this book or heard of Charles Baxter, then shame on you!” Apparently I respond well to guilt. I bought the book, loved it and have recommended it to anyone who has had trouble understanding the whoa/huh?/ouch! of love (yes, almost everyone I know). The novel’s beginning is overly self-conscious: Charles Baxter (the character) awakes in the middle of the night and, unable to fall back asleep, takes a walk and meets a neighbor, Bradley, who tells him the first of several tales of love. Luckily, that’s where the staginess ends. Baxter’s writing becomes dreamy, funny, and thoughtful. No shame in that.
Top 10 Romantic Books
From medieval and gothic romances to recent classics, the politics of love transcend time.