"Kristen Radtke compellingly blends the deeply personal with an analytical look at the concept of loneliness in Seek You, which redefines graphic literature by mixing memoir with sociological and scientific research. This journey is framed by artwork that joins a tradition (painter Edward Hopper, graphic novelist Adriane Tomine, et al.) of stark but beautiful melancholy. It lingers with you, and you'll find yourself returning to it, precisely when the author intended—in moments of solitude and quiet. Loneliness is deeply familiar to all of us, particularly after this year. Seek You builds a bridge into the void, as all great literature will do."
Publisher Pantheon
Publication Date 2021-07-13
Section New Hardcover - Nonfiction / Graphic Novels / All Staff Suggestions / Nonfiction Suggestions / Alex M.
Format Hardcover
ISBN 9781524748067
From the acclaimed author of Imagine Wanting Only This—a timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society • One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2021
“Radtke shines her brilliant light into modern America's experiment in loneliness with this supremely elegant and devastating book." —Lauren Groff, author of Florida
“If you’ve ever felt alone in America, this is the book you have been waiting to hold, and the one that will hold you back.” —Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk
There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness. Shameful to talk about and often misunderstood, loneliness is everywhere, from the most major of metropolises to the smallest of towns.
In Seek You, Kristen Radtke's wide-ranging exploration of our inner lives and public selves, Radtke digs into the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another, and the distance that remains. Through the lenses of gender and violence, technology and art, Radtke ushers us through a history of loneliness and longing, and shares what feels impossible to share.
Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to the rise of Instagram, the bootstrap-pulling cowboy to the brutal experiments of Harry Harlow, Radtke investigates why we engage with each other, and what we risk when we turn away. With her distinctive, emotionally-charged drawings and deeply empathetic prose, Kristen Radtke masterfully shines a light on some of our most vulnerable and sublime moments, and asks how we might keep the spaces between us from splitting entirely.
