Crush

April 25, 2011
This fun, sometimes racy anthology collects 26 first-person tales of naïve romance. Laurie Stolarz's memorable "Consequently Yours" begins with her sixth-grade dream to "meet and marry John Cusack"; in "Giving Up the Ghost," a much less innocent Melissa Febos recalls a first date who "knew before we met that... I had been a sex worker, a heroin addict, and that I was a writer" and describes using eBay to dispose of the accoutrements of her past life as a dominatrix. Other standouts include Candyfreak author Steve Almond's hilarious "It Never Was, Not Really," Ann Hood's tender "The Boy in the White VW Bug," Lauren Oliver's poignant "Three Little Words," and David Levithan's soul-baring "Creative Writing." Gay or straight, teenage or 30-something, there's something here for everyone who's ever fallen desperately, foolishly in love.