The History of Love: A Novel

The illuminating national bestseller: "Vertiginously exciting?vibrantly imagined?.[Krauss is] a prodigious talent."?Janet Maslin, New York Times

A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness.

Leo Gursky is just about surviving, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And though Leo doesn't know it, that book survived, inspiring fabulous circumstances, even love. Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that very book. And although she has her hands full?keeping track of her brother, Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah), and taking copious notes on How to Survive in the Wild?she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. With consummate, spellbinding skill, Nicole Krauss gradually draws together their stories.

This extraordinary book was inspired by the author's four grandparents and by a pantheon of authors whose work is haunted by loss?Bruno Schulz, Franz Kafka, Isaac Babel, and more. It is truly a history of love: a tale brimming with laughter, irony, passion, and soaring imaginative power. more

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title,desc	merchant	price	seeit
Smarter Choice The History of Love Inspired by her four grandparents (from four different countries), Krauss tells the story of a man who, 60 years ago...	23,982 reviews *smarter certified	$7.47	See it
History of Love (Books) Literary Fiction - Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Once upon a time a man who had become invisible arrived...	Barnes & Noble	$14 $10.04 Coupon 2 coupons available Code:J7M3C9V Detail: 20% off single item when you use Master card at Barnes & Noble Expires:Dec-31-2009 Restriction:Unknow Code:No Code Required Detail: Free Shipping on orders of $25 at Barnes & Noble Expires:Jun-30-2010 Restriction:see site for more details	See it
The History of Love A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for...	24 reviews	$3.96 Free Shipping	See it
The History of Love: A Novel Pages: 252, Edition: 1, Paperback, W.W. Norton & Co.	Amazon 11,406 reviews	$10.04 Coupon 1 coupon available Code:No Code Required Detail: FREE Shipping on orders over $25 at Amazon. Expires:Dec-31-2010 Restriction:Some restrictions apply. See site for details.	See it
History of Love (Books) Literary Fiction - Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Once upon a time a man who had become invisible arrived...	Barnes and Noble 20 reviews	$10.04	See it

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ProductReviews78/100 (100 Reviews)

Recent Reviews

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-02-2009; I might have enjoyed it; I like a good convoluted story. I like to figure out what's going on. I liked Leo and contemplating his loneliness. I don't like profanity. I could have really enjoyed this story without the profanity and a couple of uncomfortable...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Sep-30-2009; so sad and happy and full of words. and. yet. life!; so sad and happy and full of words. and. yet. life! it made me cry.the loss and the life and the loneliness and the love and madness.a little slow to tango, but ultimately shockingly beautiful.; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Aug-31-2009; An excellent book for all. (Worth more than 5 stars).; The History of Love is quite frankly one of the best books I have ever read. Leo Gursky is a character that I am fairly certain exists in real life and his story is powerful, enchanting, lovely and sad. I loved this book soo much. It's a...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jul-30-2009; A Jewish and less selfish Love in the Time of Cholera; What a quietly moving and thoroughly spell-binding novel Nicole Krauss has written in The History of Love. The first several chapters in, I thought the book was going to be some good character sketches, but without much of a plot. While...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Sep-30-2009; so sad and happy and full of words. and. yet. life!; so sad and happy and full of words. and. yet. life! it made me cry.the loss and the life and the loneliness and the love and madness.a little slow to tango, but ultimately shockingly beautiful.; read full review | report as inappropriate

3/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jul-09-2009; Not Many Answers - But Questions Well Asked (3.5 stars); I'm not so sure "The History of Love" is about love as much as it is loss...or maybe searching for loves that have been lost. It's a sad but beautiful book about people trying to regain and understand the most important relationships of...; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-02-2009; I might have enjoyed it; I like a good convoluted story. I like to figure out what's going on. I liked Leo and contemplating his loneliness. I don't like profanity. I could have really enjoyed this story without the profanity and a couple of uncomfortable...; read full review | report as inappropriate