The Lover’s Dictionary: A Love Story in 185 Definitions

The Lover’s Dictionary: A Love Story in 185 Definitions
David Levithan

How does one talk about love?Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.

The

Lover’s Dictionary

DAVID LEVITHAN

For my parents, with gratitude and wonder

Contents

Cover (#ucd418c41-3bac-54c5-8614-ef9becc10af9)

Title Page (#u83d94fa7-0a33-5c8f-8b97-c36a231ac51f)

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by David Levithan

Copyright

About the Publisher

A

aberrant, adj.

“I don’t normally do this kind of thing,” you said.

“Neither do I,” I assured you.

Later it turned out we had both met people online before, and we had both slept with people on first dates before, and we had both found ourselves falling too fast before. But we comforted ourselves with what we really meant to say, which was: “I don’t normally feel this good about what I’m doing.”

Measure the hope of that moment, that feeling.

Everything else will be measured against it.

abstain, v.

I’m sorry I was so surprised you didn’t drink that night.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. It wasn’t like you to turn down a drink after work.