Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Hardcover)

by David Samuels (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this collection of previously published stories by Harper's contributing editor Samuels, he claims writing for magazines is like playing sports. Whatever the journalistic game—Samuels's subjects range from Woodstock 1999 to a Goodyear blimp pilot, among others, plus a few personal essays—Samuels is a solid player who sometimes hits home runs. Every building begins as a dream, he states in Bringing Down the House, a profile of a demolition company, but [d]estroying a building... [is] a slow, almost biblical reckoning. Behind the scenes at such places as the Sedan Crater nuclear test site; the antiglobalization Mecca of Eugene, Ore.; and Super Bowl XL with Stevie Wonder, Samuels's reportage is at its best. He wryly flays false constructions of American reality on the right, left and places in between. Ideologically, what Chad Sweet has in common with his newfound friends in the Republican Party is that nothing he says makes any sense, Samuels writes about a new Republican at a $2,000-a-plate Bush-Cheney '04 fund-raising party. Samuels could give a little Bush-bashing wink here; instead he observes that politics isn't about coherence anymore. Neither is much of life in our Golden Land of Mini-Moos, according to Samuels, who captures this free floating weirdness with clarity. (Mar.)
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From Booklist
In this first collection of his magazine pieces, journalist Samuels, whose work has been featured in Harper’s and the New Yorker, among other venues, well captures the end-of-millennium fervor of the late 1990s—7 of the 19 pieces collected here were originally published then. From his disillusioned take on the greedy capitalism marring Woodstock ’99 to the colorful profiles of a ragtag group of radicals from Eugene, Oregon, Samuels is acutely aware of the chasm between idealistic aspirations and more mundane reality. He alternates between social critiques, such as his touching depiction of the sad-eyed customers of a dog-track betting operation in Florida or his hard-hitting profiles of the workers who handled nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site, to more personal pieces on how his peers’ search for connection manifests itself through career ambition, antidepressant medication, and musical taste. And it is in his profiles of and musings on musicians—rap producer Prince Paul, Detroit native son Stevie Wonder—that Samuels’ writing is at its richest. An eclectic collection most notable for its spot-on depiction of the late 1990s. --Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: New Press (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595581871
• ISBN-13: 978-1595581877
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #744,636 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Singing words, words between the lines of age..., March 28, 2008

By	Shea (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

On the surface, this collection offers dependable entertainment with its blend of sharp reporting and compassionate, good-humored storytelling. But woven throughout the stories is a provocative concept ignited in the reader's mind by Samuels' preface: that perhaps we owe it to ourselves to re-configure our notions about identity, and all the goals that follow.

"My story has something to do with our national gift for self-delusion and for making ourselves up from scratch, which is much the same thing as believing in the future," Samuels writes, noting younger generations' struggles to find a sense of self when traditional mainstays like family dinners are less prominent.

To suffice, we grasp for concrete systems to help us feel in control -- it may be a Florida greyhound bettor who feels invincible in the face of chance. Or Oregonian anarchists who think they're making a difference when reality suggests otherwise. Or a Woodstock 1999 organizer who's lost sight of what really matters so much that music and togetherness get trumped by four-dollar water bottles and corporate detachment.

The truth is, Samuels suggests, that in trying to define ourselves amid the tumult of modern America, we all get lost in the mire to some extent. "The fact that we lie like crazy while pretending to always tell the truth is such a common narrative strategy in American literature and American lives that we frequently confuse our wishful imaginings with reality." Or, as Neil Young says in the song that lends this book its name, "I have a friend I've never seen/ He hides his head inside a dream..."

Samuels' writing has an intelligent, approachable eloquence that brings the traditions of literary journalism to a new level. At points, it's hard not to get entranced in his stories of dreams and disillusionment, from Pentagon meetings to more personal experiences. But with subtle precision and piercing insight, Samuels colors every page with his particular wisdom. It's as if each piece were written for this book -- though the fact that this isn't the case lends a beautiful fluidity to the collection. He respects our ability to parse the stories for ourselves, taking from them what we choose. Each story offers a layer, creating what in the end is a new portrait of the reader's unique sense of self and appreciation of others.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Perspective on Modern America, April 10, 2008

By	Adam J. Loewy (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first came across David Samuels' work after reading his story on Britany Spears and the tabloid media in "Atlantic Monthly." I found his take quite original, his writing very strong, and his conclusions thought-provoking. His entire essay collection 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' was equally enjoyable.

I can't think of a writer to compare Samuels too and I say that as a compliment. He is very original. If I was pressed, I would compare him to a more intellectual - and darker - Chuck Klosterman. There are some fascinating essays in this book, esp. the pieces on Woodstock 1999, the Super Bowl in Detroit, and the leftis lunatics in Eugene.

One minor quibble with the book is his personal essays. This is the reason I can't give 5 stars to this book. With all due respect to Samuels, I really don't care about his failed relationships or why he decided to move to Miami to be with some gal. These essays belong in another book and they detract from his investigative pieces. But they are a small portion of the book.

Overall, this is a very good book. I truly hope Samuels keeps writing articles, as a voice like his is much needed in contemporary non-fiction.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DAMN, what a great book, February 5, 2008

By	Jill Jones (Clearwater, FL) - See all my reviews

I don't usually like collections, but this one propelled me through such an amazingly surreal and beautiful American landscape--emotionally, it goes from sea to shining sea--that it seemed like a novel. I loved the pieces about the dog track, the anarchists in Portland and the Super Bowl with Stevie Wonder.