Customer Reviews

I Love You More Than You Know: Essays

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3 star:		(1)
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Jonathan Ames has, as they say, a screw loose, in fact, probably several. These brief essays detail his many neuroses, obsessions with bodily functions, sexual peccadiloes, etc., to quite humorous effect. In fact, the reader will often find him or herself laughing out loud. Mixed in with the hilarity in several instances are some very touching, poignant, even sentimental touches, particularly when he describes his relationship with his son...Join this cult now, so you can say you got in on the ground floor of this seedy and splendid house.

The cover of I Love You More Than You Know seems to suggest that the author (pictured in underpants, fedora, wing-tips shoes and suit case) is running away from something. A few chapters into this book of wonderfully crafted essays there is the realization that he is trying to outpace his own neuroses. The essays are hiliarious and poignant accounts of the author trying to make sense of his own sexual, scatalogical and emotional foibles. I Love You More Than You Know is written in a smart prose style that, I feel, is without peer. I would highly recommed the book for a quick lighthearted laugh out loud funny read, that leaves the reader more hopeful than despairing on the human condition.

Jonathan Ames is one of the great writers of our time and this book is just proof and proof again. There is no reason why David Sedaris is on the bestseller list and not Jonathan Ames.
This book is a collection of essays, sort of a poor man's Curb Your Enthusiasm, or a poor man's Sex in the City.
Buy this book as an introduction to the brilliantly sick mind of Jonathan Ames and then get the Extra Man by Jonathan Ames. By far his best novel.
And the price, $14 for 250 pages! I really dont see how you could go wrong!

A series of essays, most of them disclosing way too much and certainly not flattering, but also funny and stark. Underneath his "I'm a pervert, take it or leave it" demeanor, Mr. Ames seems to be a sensitive, pleasant, and fairly nice guy. The essays, per usual for him, border on repulsive, but don't quite get there because of his gift for story telling and sentiment. After reading two of his collections, I don't think I'll buy more because they seem repititive, but they certainly are interesting reads.

Ames' third essay collection brings with it his normal hilarity (no one has misadventures quite as awkwardly funny as Ames), but also, too, pathos. An older and somewhat-wiser Ames seems full of regret -- over who he is, how he's lived, the decisions he's made, the kind of parent he can be to his kid -- and there's a real sense of melancholy undercutting all the laughs. But whether it's mentioning a bump on another author's head or getting lost after a boxing match or fencing against a hated rival as a teenager (my favorite piece from the book), Ames will have you laughing out loud. Ames, in his simple, easy language, seems to reveal all of his flaws so we can laugh at ourselves and accept all the horrible, embarrassing things we all experience and try to hide away.

jonathan ames has had a very colorful life, and this memoir collection of short stories is a fun read. i enjoyed this book on a flight to florida and the time went quickly because i was laughing so much. this guy is twisted and a little dark, and i'd love to hang out with him!

This collection of essays offers a touching, funny, and sometimes off-putting (a bit of scatological humor might turn-off some readers) look at a man in his 40s grappling with mid-life and all that it brings. Ames is an author who has lived a life slightly off-center. His essays reveal much about his attempt to reach some peace in a life that has been filled with interesting sexual experiences, failed loves, his role as a father and son, and his own neurotic view of life. Some essays, such as his look at the impact of Jack Kerouac on his life are moving and inspired. Others, fall a bit flat. Ames is at his best when he is trying to wrench some meaning from his neurotic involvement with the world (his essay about hanging out with fellow essayist David Sedaris in Europe is unforgettable). This collection is about finding humor and meaning at mid-life and moving forward.

Having read the previous two collections of essays Jonathan Ames has written, I have been anticipating the publishing of his most recent collection for some time. If you're into a Bukowski type humor, with the sharp well written style of Fitzgerald, you'll love these collections. Ames has a knack for humor, rapier wit, and a passion for prose. I Love You More Than You Know is definitely the type of book you can read a couple of times, and still come back to anytime for a quick laugh. I feel that Jonathan Ames deserves to have a wider audience. With his latest release, chock full of stories that will make you laugh, provoke thought, and possible change your outlook on life and the little things that make it up, I believe Ames' popularity will flourish. Once you read him, you're hooked. I've conducted research, I know. Pick up this book today. You'll come back for his whole catalog.

Ames' essays are filled with an honestly and sentimentality that makes him endearing and impossible to dislike. He is an everyman who is not afraid to articulate his quirks and shortcomings - ultimately he is someone whom we can all relate to on some level. Many of the essays are just a handful of pages and are simple reflections on events in his life.

While I enjoyed my journey getting to know Mr. Ames through this book, it was not a sad moment to wave goodbye as I finished the final page. While many of his stories brought a smile to my face, there were many that just didn't work. Scattered throughout the book are attempts at amusingly funny, prophetic, page-long, small print entries for a future dictionary ("Pleasant Bowel Syndrome", "Pro-Semitism") that are neither funny nor amusing. One essay is a mock self-interview where he inadvertently insults himself such that he storms out and the interview must take place via an email exchange with himself. There were no "laugh out loud" moments for me in this book and, in my opinion, attempts at wittiness mostly fell flat.

Ames is a fair read but is not on par with folks like David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell or Augusten Burroughs.

I'm a Jonathan Ames fan. I love his novels and his essays. The guy just flat-out cracks me up. I haven't read him in a while, so I really enjoyed this collection. It was somehow comforting to know he is still obsessed with certain things about himself--his itchy ass, his baldness, his bathroom problems, his "cataloging of his ruination" as he moves into middle age. His self-deprecating humor is blunt, bawdy, outrageous, and hilarious. It appeals to my 12 year-old boy sense of humor. But mixed in with these funny essays are a few downright touching ones, like "Snowfall" which is about the death of a friend who Ames had lost touch with, and the two essays that discuss his close relationship with his great aunt Doris. All in all a good, quick, engaging, satisfying read.