The essays in this collection explore moments of painful personal transformation—those instances when our lives are irreparably divided into “befores” and “afters.” Love, be it erotic or familial or platonic, is a central character in each of these essays. Love both ruins a family and knits it together; love unites young people and tears them apart; love ushers forth great honesty and even greater deception. In the words of Walt Whitman, love is never unreturned. Out of love, comes story.
