The Kiss: Intimacies from Writers

Memoirist and poet Turner (My Life as a Foreign Country) brings together the work of more than 50 writers to create an affecting and thorough exploration of a universal human gesture. Eschewing a simple recounting of romance and affection, the contributors explore a wide variety of kisses, including the perfect kiss of mutual magnetic attraction, the forced kiss of an unwanted advance, and the complicated parental peck on the cheek. The selections take the shape of letters, memoir, poems, dialogue, graphic narrative, and fiction. The book’s greatest strength is the wide latitude the contributors are given in both content and tone. This opens the door for both a hilarious back-and-forth between Téa Obreht and Dan Sheehan on iconic screen kisses (“That’s the strange beauty of the Pacino kiss, though: you never know what you’re gonna get”) and heartbreaking personal narratives, such as Laure-Anne Bosselaar’s description of discovering an unfinished poem from her late partner, poet Kurt Brown, about “that kiss I failed to give you,” which “will be the last of me to die.” While not all the selections carry the same resonance, they come together into an emotionally complex experience that will make readers reevaluate a seemingly simple sign of affection. (Feb.)