Kinder, Gentler Essays

This Thing Called Love

By Steven Schnur

William Morrow & Co., Inc.

$15.00

In his new book This Thing called Love: Thoughts of an Out-of-step Romantic, Steven Schnur discusses the facets of his life which he values the most. The book is a collection of essays in which he tells anecdotes about his life, ranging from topics of first love to father-hood.

With each essay Schnur passes on to the reader a lesson that his own personal experiences have taught him. He finds enjoyment and meaning in the simple pleasures of life. Gazing at the stars with his child in his arms, planting his own garden and sharing Thanksgiving dinner with his family are all remembrances which he relates.

He sheds a soft, warm light over life, reminding the reader of all of life's gifts. In seemingly meaningless events, Schnur finds an underlying richness of life. Although the book sometimes teeters on the edge of being cutesy and predictable, for the most part Schnur resists the temptation to over-sentimentalize.

Schnur organizes the essays into six main categories: requited love, simple pleasures, unrequited love, mother's day, out of sync, hudson river retrospective and generic dad. Although the essays in each section do relate to each other, each has the potential to stand as its own story. For this reason Schnur's book is ideal for vacation reading.

While some books require the reader's attention throughout, This Thing Called love does not demand constant attention. If your mind wanders and you forget every word of the previous chapter, you will still have no problem understanding the next chapter.

Some literary critics argue that a book does not have artistic merit if it does not require careful reading. True, this book is not bound to show up on any English course syllabus. However, this book certainly has value; if bogged down by work or by worries, this book is a perfect way to make you smile at life.

This Thing Called Love is like a sweet love song although the melody and lyrics may be simple and predictable, one still enjoys listening to it. It has a tenderness that has the ability to touch us. One essay describes Schnur taking his crying baby outside into the warm summer night. He carries his daughter to the summit of a hill in order to show her the moon. It mixes wonders of life, the stars, fatherhood and infants in a delicately poignant way.

The book has the same type of feeling as the television show The Wonder Years. Though Schnur does much more than simply reminisce about his youth, each story has the feeling of a childhood memory. Schnur bathes his recollections in a soft, romantic light that makes the harsh realities of life, like loss and rejection, tolerable and the joys of life incredible.

Like love songs and The Wonder Years, this book should not be taken in large doses. After reading too many essays in one sitting, they tend to melt together into one lump of sappy, sentimental...well, fill in your own alliteration. The essays lose force because their cute outcomes become predictable. For example, Schnur constantly decorates this stories with "coincidental" meeting with pretty girls and over-blown adoration by neighborhood children.

If taken in small doses, this book will surely lift readers' spirits. Its warmth and romanticism are welcome reliefs from the cold realities of everyday life (especially in January). If you like reading before you go to bed, leafing through an essay or two is the perfect way to ease your worries about tomorrow and to remind you of the richness of life.