Against Love A Polemic

Laura Kipnis takes aim at the one subject that nobody is allowed to argue with. Love is treated as a mysterious, all-controlling force that governs our thoughts and life decisions, and the book asks why that opinion is so uniform.

Her starting point is a comparison. The most powerful religions produce the occasional heretic, every ideology has its apostates, and even sacred cows eventually meet their butchers. Love alone escapes dissent, and the book argues that this is reason enough for a polemic against it.

This is non-fiction in the form of a polemic: a short, argumentative essay rather than a balanced survey. It sets the marital ideal in its sights and treats adultery as a form of dissent from it. The tone is sharp, acerbic and often funny.

The author describes the form as a small explosive device placed under a reader's armchair. It is meant to shake up settled convictions without doing serious harm. It suits readers who enjoy having a comfortable assumption about marriage and romance challenged, and who do not mind a provocation delivered with some bite.