Named a Best New Book of 2021 by Vogue and Refinery29
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Lit Hub
Named one of "5 Hot Books" by The National Book Review
"For a friend who needs a reminder that love is weird, humans are complicated, and bad things often get better or at least later become funny stories to tell our friends."—Vanity Fair
A sharp, witty book about brilliant, broken women that are just the right amount wrong.
Whether diving into complicated relationships or wrestling with family ties, the girls and women who populate this collection—misfits and misanthropes, bickering sisters, responsible daughters, and unhappy wives—don't always find themselves making the best decisions.
A woman struggles with a new kind of love triangle when she moves in with a divorced dad. A lonely teenage beach attendant finds uneasy comradeship with her boss. A high school English teacher gets pushed to her limits when a student plagiarizes. Often caught between desire and duty, guilt and resentment, these characters discover what it means to get lost in love, and do what it takes to find themselves again.
Utterly singular and wholly unforgettable, Emma Duffy-Comparone's stories manage to be slyly, wickedly funny at even their darkest turns and herald the arrival of an irreverent and dazzling new voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Lit Hub
Named one of "5 Hot Books" by The National Book Review
"For a friend who needs a reminder that love is weird, humans are complicated, and bad things often get better or at least later become funny stories to tell our friends."—Vanity Fair
A sharp, witty book about brilliant, broken women that are just the right amount wrong.
Whether diving into complicated relationships or wrestling with family ties, the girls and women who populate this collection—misfits and misanthropes, bickering sisters, responsible daughters, and unhappy wives—don't always find themselves making the best decisions.
A woman struggles with a new kind of love triangle when she moves in with a divorced dad. A lonely teenage beach attendant finds uneasy comradeship with her boss. A high school English teacher gets pushed to her limits when a student plagiarizes. Often caught between desire and duty, guilt and resentment, these characters discover what it means to get lost in love, and do what it takes to find themselves again.
Utterly singular and wholly unforgettable, Emma Duffy-Comparone's stories manage to be slyly, wickedly funny at even their darkest turns and herald the arrival of an irreverent and dazzling new voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Emma Duffy-Comparone’s debut is smart, witty, and razor-sharp. These stories perfectly capture the complications of love and heartbreak, longing and desire. The women and girls in Love Like That are written with precision and compassion and it is fascinating to eavesdrop on their lives, to witness the pivotal moments as they deal with family, lovers, children, and loss." - Jennifer Close
"These stories tingle like a fresh sunburn, secretly pleasant in their heat and specificity. Here, women burn inside their bodies, bodies that have done bad things or had bad things done to them. Whether they are fuming at the beach or hiding in a projectionist booth, it’s a sharp joy to watch them make tender and merciless decisions to reclaim their lives. You’ll think of short form masters like Joy Williams, Deborah Eisenberg, and Tessa Hadley, but most of all you’ll be thinking of the ruthless and beautiful voice of Emma Duffy-Comparone." - Aja Gabel
"The stories in Love Like That are funny and raw and big-hearted. Duffy-Comparone acknowledges the people we want to be and puts crosshairs on the people we are and the places we are loved nonetheless. This collection is a grand tour of the human heart, a true pleasure to read." - Danielle Lazarin
"Emma Duffy-Comparone is an extraordinary talent and Love Like That is an accomplished, masterful collection. These stories hinge on surprising intersections of emotion-devastation and hopefulness, heartbreak and hilarity, control and submission-allowing us the full impact of those precarious, life changing turns. Bold and smart, with a voice all her own, Emma Duffy-Comparone is a writer not to be missed." - Jill McCorkle
"What a joy to read these stories! This accomplished collection is dark and delightful, hilarious and heart-breaking. Fearless, tense, funny, and surprising, these witty, sharp stories will devastate you. Duffy-Comparone is a marvel!" - Kirstin Valdez Quade
"Duffy-Comparone’s collection is intense fun, whip smart and creates a family out of those lovable, eccentric people who are fallible yet so, so self-aware. On each and every page, the voice shines with enviable confidence and verve, demanding to be read. This is a stunning debut that unsettled me in the best possible way." - Weike Wang
"These stories tingle like a fresh sunburn, secretly pleasant in their heat and specificity. Here, women burn inside their bodies, bodies that have done bad things or had bad things done to them. Whether they are fuming at the beach or hiding in a projectionist booth, it’s a sharp joy to watch them make tender and merciless decisions to reclaim their lives. You’ll think of short form masters like Joy Williams, Deborah Eisenberg, and Tessa Hadley, but most of all you’ll be thinking of the ruthless and beautiful voice of Emma Duffy-Comparone." - Aja Gabel
"The stories in Love Like That are funny and raw and big-hearted. Duffy-Comparone acknowledges the people we want to be and puts crosshairs on the people we are and the places we are loved nonetheless. This collection is a grand tour of the human heart, a true pleasure to read." - Danielle Lazarin
"Emma Duffy-Comparone is an extraordinary talent and Love Like That is an accomplished, masterful collection. These stories hinge on surprising intersections of emotion-devastation and hopefulness, heartbreak and hilarity, control and submission-allowing us the full impact of those precarious, life changing turns. Bold and smart, with a voice all her own, Emma Duffy-Comparone is a writer not to be missed." - Jill McCorkle
"What a joy to read these stories! This accomplished collection is dark and delightful, hilarious and heart-breaking. Fearless, tense, funny, and surprising, these witty, sharp stories will devastate you. Duffy-Comparone is a marvel!" - Kirstin Valdez Quade
"Duffy-Comparone’s collection is intense fun, whip smart and creates a family out of those lovable, eccentric people who are fallible yet so, so self-aware. On each and every page, the voice shines with enviable confidence and verve, demanding to be read. This is a stunning debut that unsettled me in the best possible way." - Weike Wang
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Used availability for Emma Duffy-Comparone's Love Like That