in the U.S. more people are living alone than ever before. In 2004 the New York Times launched a series of op-ed length essays on relationships. The most memorable are collected in Daniel Jones's anthology Modern Love. The essays also blossomed into the Amazon Original series featuring Tina Fey, Andy Garcia, Anne Hathaway, and other luminaries.
Everyone has a story; here are précis of a few . . .
A young woman goes through the five stages of ghosting grief. A man’s promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorcée in her seventies looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships.
Some of the stories are unconventional; others hit close to home. Some reveal the way technology has changed dating forever; others explore the struggles experienced by anyone who has searched for love. Still others focus on sexistence. Together, they tell the larger story of how relationships begin, often fail, and—sometimes—endure.
Week 1
Marisa Lascher, "Single, Unemployed, and Suddenly Myself," 6pp.
Matteson Perry, "Uh, Honey, That's Not Your Line," 6 pp.
Mindy Hung, "I Seemed Plucky and Game, Even to Myself," 7 pp.
Brian Gittis, "At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity," 6 pp.
Rachel Fields, "The Five Stages of Ghosting Grief," 6 pp.
Mark McDevitt, "Misery Loves Fried Chicken, Too," 7 pp.
Week 2.
Abby Sher, "So He Looked Like Dad. It Was Just a Dinner, Right?" 7 pp.
Steve Friedman, "No? No? No? Let Me Read between the Lines," 7 pp.
Andrew Rannells, "During a Night of Casual Sex, Urgent Messages Go Unanswered," 6 pp.
Gabrielle Ulubay, "For Best Hookup Results, Use Your Words, OK?" 7 pp.
Deborah Copaken, "When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist," 6 pp.
Jean Hanff Korelitz, "Sleeping with the Guitar Player," 7 pp.
Larry Smith, "Hear That Wedding March Often Enough, You Fall in Step," 7 pp.
Week 3
Eve Pell, "The Race Grows Sweeter Near Its Final Lap," 6 pp.
Veronica Chambers, "Loved and Lost? It's OK, Especially If You Win," 7 pp.
Susan M. Gelles, "Single, and Surrounded by a Wall of Men," 6 pp.
Kirsten Scharold, "When Eve and Even Bit the Apple," 6 pp.
Gary Presley, "Would My Heart Outrun Its Pursuer?" 7 pp.
Ayelet Waldman, "Truly, Madly, Guiltily," 6 pp.
Week 4
Trey Ellis,"Who's That Lady in the Bedroom, Daddy?" 7 pp.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal, "You May Want to Marry My Husband," 5 pp.
. Autumn Stephens, "A Body Scarred, a Marriage Healed," 7 pp.
Dan Savage, "DJ's Homeless Mommy," 8 pp.
Ann Hood, "Now I Need a Place to Hide Away," 6 pp.
Week 5
Cris Beam, "Just Holding on through the Curves," 6 pp.
Ann Leary, "Rallying to Keep the Game Alive," 6 pp.
Kevin Callihane, "Out from under the Influence," 7 pp.
Theo Pauline Nestor, "The Chicken's in the Oven, My Husband's Out the Door," 6 pp.
Terri Cheney, "Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am," 7 pp.
Claire Scovell LaZebnik, "Adolescence, without a Roadmap," 8 pp.
Diane Daniel, "My Husband Is Now My Wife," 6 pp.
Week 6
Carolyy Megan, "Something Like Motherhood," 7 pp.
Aaron Long, "First I Met my Children, Then My Girlfiend. They're Related," 6 pp.
Katherine Tanny, "When Mr. Reliable Becomes Mr. Needy," 7 pp.
Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, "My First Lesson in Motherhood," 7 pp.
Rebecca Eckler, "Two Men, Baby on the Way, and Me," 7 pp.
Lisa Monroy, "When Mom Is on the Scent, and Right," 6 pp.
Week 7
Anne Marie Field, "Two Decembers: Loss and Redemption," 7 pp.
Jennifer Just, "Beyond Divorce and Even Death, a Promise Kept," 7 pp.
Howie Kahn, "The Third Half of a Couple," 7 pp.
Meredith Hall, "When I Was Sixteen, I Placed Him for Adoption. Should We Try Again? 7 pp.
Julie Hogben, "When the Doorman is Your Main Man," 7 pp.
Daniel Jones, ed., Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption, revised and updated edition (Broadway Books, 2019).
Some bonus reading:
Margalit Fox, "Diana Athill Dies at 101, Wrote Clear-Eyed Memoirs of Love and Sex," New York Times (January 24, 2019), 7 pp.
Isabel Sawhill, "Beyond Marriage," New York Times (September 13, 2014), 11 pp.
Judith Shulevitz, "Regulating Sex," New York Times (June 27, 2015), 6 pp.