New York Times Modern Love Columnist Daniel Jones Discusses His New Book “Love Illuminated: Exploring Life’s Most Mystifying Subject (With the Help of 50,000 Strangers)”

Sun, 09/07/2014 - 10:55am

When: May 18, 2014 at the Downtown Library

Since its inception in 2004, Daniel Jones has edited the wildly popular Modern Love column, which runs weekly in the Sunday New York Times.

He discusses his just-released new book Love Illuminated: Exploring Life’s Most Mystifying Subject (With the Help of 50,000 Strangers) the story of love from beginning to end (or not). This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale.

As the editor of a column about love in the New York Times, Daniel Jones has been privy to the deepest personal revelations of tens of thousands of strangers. Deluged with stories of scheming cheaters, hopeless romantics, racy texts, and fierce devotion, he has spent much of the past decade wading through love's muck and majesty—and has taken plenty of notes along the way. In "Love Illuminated," Daniel Jones draws from the 50,000 tales of love that have crossed his desk and traces the arc of human relationships through ten phases, starting with the pursuit, destiny, vulnerability, connection, and trust of new love, and then turning to the practicality, monotony, infidelity, loyalty, and wisdom of love matured. With empathy and wry humor, he takes readers on an enlightening journey through the highs, lows, and enduring unknowns of this universal experience that rattles the head and stirs the heart.

As Jones explains, "Love is about curiosity, not certainty. It's about tossing oneself overboard into the wild seas, not remaining safely on deck."

Daniel Jones’ books include two essay anthologies, Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion and The Bastard on the Couch: 27 Men Try Really Hard to Explain Their Feelings About Love, Loss, Fatherhood, and Freedom. His novel, After Lucy, was a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Parade, Real Simple, Redbook, and elsewhere.