Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
  • List Price: $24.00
  • Save: $6.49 (27%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Intimacy Idiot has been added to your Cart
Want it tomorrow, Aug. 20? Order within and choose Saturday Delivery at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by Allthewayfrompa
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Edition: EXCELLENT READERS COPY!!! ; PLEASE READ FULL DESCRIPTION!!! ; VERY GOOD/VERY GOOD; EX-LIBRARY ISSUE WITH TYPICAL MARKINGS AND STICKERS!!! SHRINK WRAPPED FOR EXTRA PROTECTION!!! THIS ITEM SHIPS DIRECTLY TO YOU FROM AMAZON AND QUALIFIES FOR PRIME AND FREE SUPER SAVER SHIPPING!!! READ WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR SERVICE!!! WE TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN YOUR SATISFACTION!!! The inside of this Book appears Like New, selling Very Good as there are library stamps on the inside Cover page and the Dust Jacket shows signs of wear along the edges and corners. These minor issues do not compromise the integrity of the book.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and .

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon .

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 3 images

Intimacy Idiot Hardcover – June 2, 2015

by
Isaac Oliver (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Isaac Oliver Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Isaac Oliver (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 72 customer reviews
See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$11.91
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
$17.51
$0.45 $0.01
Paperback
"Please retry"
$11.40
$7.32 $4.55
Audible, Unabridged
"Please retry"
$0.00
Free with your Audible trial
Popular & highly-rated in Biographies & Memoirs
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
$17.51 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
click to open popover

Frequently Bought Together

  • Intimacy Idiot
  • +
  • I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
Total price: $30.20
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
    Ryan O'Connell
    4.4 out of 5 stars 23
    Paperback
    $12.69 Prime
  2. What Belongs to You: A Novel
    Garth Greenwell
    4.0 out of 5 stars 96
    Hardcover
    $15.63 Prime
  3. After the Parade: A Novel
    Lori Ostlund
    4.5 out of 5 stars 31
    Hardcover
    $21.73 Prime
  4. Our Young Man
    Edmund White
    3.4 out of 5 stars 29
    Hardcover
    $17.77 Prime
  5. On Sondheim: An Opinionated Guide
    Ethan Mordden
    4.1 out of 5 stars 16
    Hardcover
    $19.64 Prime
  6. The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel
    Colson Whitehead
    3.7 out of 5 stars 95
    Hardcover
    $16.17 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (June 2, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1476746664
  • ISBN-13: 978-1476746661
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA terrific read
By Adam Feldman on June 2, 2015
Format: Hardcover
I saw Oliver perform a reading of pieces from Intimacy Idiot and couldn't wait to dive into the rest of his witty, well-observed, amusingly self-deprecating collection of personal essays and vignettes. The book is a very funny and cumulatively poignant look at modern gay life, love and sex in New York City.
Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsPartly Funny
By Jonster on March 2, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
An expensive collection of short essays, character studies and poems centered on Oliver's life experience, at points this book made me slightly nauseous. Oliver's a needy little guy who suffers from both the heartbreak of psoriasis and the tragedy of unrequited love. He will put just about anything in his mouth and shares the results of his culinary dissatisfaction with a kind of resigned sigh. "Intimacy Idiot" is a good title. Some of his short subway profiles read like character studies for future stories but I liked his poetry. Most of it anyway. When he's good he's very good. Unlike Nathan Lane, I didn't laugh out loud. I giggled a few times, that's about it. And that's why I'm giving it three stars. For the giggles.
1 Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsDidn't live up to the reviews
By IVYSTUDENT on January 6, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The reviews in other publications led me to order this book as the author is compared to David Sedaris, whose writings I find witty and wonderful. I cannot make the same claim and would imagine the author might find it daunting to be compared to David Sedaris. The author has moments of insight and humor, some fine writing, but the majority is flat and really not very interesting. I'm disappointed given the high ratings I've read elsewhere.
Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
2.0 out of 5 starsIdiotic to publish this as a $24 book!
By krt66 on November 11, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Overhyped collection of supercilious notes, half-baked poems and trivial gay-themed sexual anecdotes delivered smugly (though sometimes with actual humor) -- unaccountably published as an actual book (lots of white space, small page size to make it appear to fill enough pages to try to justify that hilarious $24 list price). The kind of thing it would make maybe 3 weeks to write. But good for this guy, who certainly found a gimmick.
Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsLoved it. SO FUNNY.
By Dana Ramos on September 3, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
If you like David Sedaris, you'll probably like Isaac Oliver. Sharply observed characters and situations, and a great sense of humor. Oliver is an out gay man and is not at all shy about detailing his sexual escapades, so if that might offend you, consider this a warning. But it is worth getting past any personal sexual inhibitions to get the delights of his very funny and incredibly well-written essays. His notes about people he encounters on subway rides are priceless--I'd love to read an entire book just with his descriptions of people and situations on the subway. And some of the people he has dated--whether you are gay or straight, you will recognize the personality types and find yourself laughing along, or grimacing, depending. He also has a terrific ear for dialogue and you feel as if you are listening in--the voices are simply so spot-on and varied that they must be authentic. Additionally, I finished the book feeling as if I really got to know the writer; a person who is trying to figure out life and love, who is as flawed as the rest of us (but not afraid to admit it), and full of heart and soul. He may have had his heart broken a few times, but instead of being bitter about it, he has chosen to turn his pain into humor and life lessons for the rest of us. I look forward to reading more from this writer.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsInitimate Hilarity
By J. Hamby on June 2, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
Okay first it should be pointed out that this a blunt graphic explicit look at one gay man's life and adventures in New York City. It is a slice of life book that tackles some rather mature moments in Oliver's life.

Issac Oliver is funny, sharply clever at how he looks and addresses things in his life. Self-deprecating and unabashed in sharing the sexual details of his life. For me it often descends into areas that I would cringe if brought up at the dinner table. Or confessed by a tipsy friend over drinks at a party. That is of course my taste level.

I never felt it was gratuitous or added for simple shock value though. This is who Isaac Oliver is and what he shares of his life would seem oddly truncated if he shied away from such willingness to be as honest, brutally so at times, as he is in this book.

But for anyone who is a bit like me in the "TMI' area or even more prudish, I strongly suggest you grab hold of those pearls, don't let go, no matter how much you are white knuckling it, and keep reader. This is a wonderful book that explores how a gay man tries to be true to who he is even as he finds himself using various social tools that in the end might not serve his goals of finding companionship and even ultimately a relationship. Even my prudish ways can appreciate that Mr. Oliver appreciates sex as just that. As he struggles with how far the unbalance can be in trying to be happy in the moment and being 'happy ever after'. With wit and sharp, sometimes biting self-awareness that can be bitter and sad. But compelling all the same.
Comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsNot as funny as I hoped.
By Bob on December 30, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I read an article in the New York Times that quoted Nathan Lane as this being the funniest book he's read in a long long time.

I read the sample and because it showed promise so I purchased the book. I must say that I am disappointed that, unlike Mr. Lane, I didn't find myself laughing out loud while reading it. Interesting and relatable, yes. Mr. Oliver has a good writing voice.

Mr. Lane just set the bar too high.
Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 starsJust OK

Some very good writing afloat in therapy fodder. Luckily my book club chose another for contrast. Did the author pay his own way to the writers' workshop?

Published 12 hours ago by Chris Schim
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Awesome and original voice, made me laugh out loud many times in public, not easy to do.

Published 1 month ago by Anu Nagpal
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Absolutely genius. The new David Sedaris. I've never read something so quickly. Must read.

Published 1 month ago by Jacob Olson
5.0 out of 5 starswith sweet and poignant moments in between all the laughs

Intimacy Idiot was hilarious, with sweet and poignant moments in between all the laughs. Absolutely recommend.

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Laugh out loud hilarious!

Published 2 months ago by Paulette P.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

LOL funny.

Published 3 months ago by Shadden.Beasley
4.0 out of 5 starsHilarious and honest!

I found this book to be hilarious! It felt like almost every story had a particularly hilarious line or two, and I loved it. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Chancie
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This is one of the three best books I have read this year. Funny, witty and well-paced.

Published 3 months ago by Rolando H. Adame
4.0 out of 5 starsfunny read.

Quick, funny read.

Published 4 months ago by Kari
5.0 out of 5 starsHonest, Open, and Hilarious

Great great read. Put him up there with David Sedaris. Humor with a lot of warmth and heart. Highly recommend.

Published 4 months ago by Huling Foster

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Intimacy Idiot
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: Intimacy Idiot
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.