Only Love Can Break Your Heart

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.

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.

Clean, precise prose that flow actively into the next. A great collection of stories that I commonly reference back to for reassurance that I'm not the only crazy person trying to survive in New York City.

A fantastic collection of essays by one of the finest living American non-fiction writers. After I finished reading this, I turned to the front and started over. There's just so much to learn from how Samuels frames scenes and characters. His essay on Woodstock 1999, in particular, has changed how I'll look at writing about music festivals in future. Like John Jeremiah Sullivan's `Upon This Rock', it's barely about the bands who played, but the scenes he witnessed and the people he met. 'The Light Stuff', his essay on blimps, was inspiring, too: Samuels manages to mine extreme depths of technical information and minutiae while still ensuring that the story is never less than engaging and compelling. The essay about nuclear warhead testing grounds, `Buried Suns', was another standout. A few of the shorter pieces were forgettable, but the long stuff for Harper's and the New Yorker is just brilliant. I highly recommend this book to any writer who works in non-fiction.

Could not get into his choice of topics nor writing style. Tried this as a book club book and none of the members could get even half way through. Found his style cumbersome and somehow off the mark.

This is a wonderful anthology of insightful observations on phenomena and special people of our times, from Woodstock. dog racing to Stevie Wonder, and much much more. These essays show how we can deceive ourselves in the interests of the great American Dream, and how there are some among us, who actually live and epitomize our dreams. It is a "must read" ! Starlight Serenade

Thank heavens someone has had the good sense to put together this great sampling of the redoubtable Mr. Samuels' best work. Intelligence and wit like his are rare enough in journalism--add his unmatchable tenderness and empathy and you get a truly unique voice. This is going to be one of those books I read once and then keep around to dip into whenever I need a lift. Here's hoping Samuels is bluffing when he says he's leaving magazine writing for good, because he'll be sorely missed.

A terrific collection -- pulls the world apart, weighs the cogs, looks at the gears, then puts it back together again. Samuels is wrong: it's not only love that breaks hearts; the right word can do it, the perfect thought can do, and Samuels demonstrates this again and again.