book review: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
The basics: The Lover's Dictionary is a love story told through alphabetical dictionary entires. My thoughts: There is something about David Levithan's writing that is both earnest and cool. As I was reading this short, little novel, I was reminded of Stephen Chbosky's brilliant novel, Perks of Being a Wallflower . Levithan and Chbosky both get it . They can be smart, funny, self-deprecating, and honest. Levithan inspired this female reader to see myself both in the male protagonist and in the woman he loves. Levithan's humor provides a beautiful balance to the sweeter entries: avant-garde, adj. This was after Alisa's show, the reverse-blackface rendition of Gone with the Wind, including songs from the Empire Records soundtrack and an interval of nineteenth-century German poetry, recited with a lisp. "What does avant-garde mean, anyway?" I asked. "I believe it translates as favor to your friends ," you replied. One of the most ...