Eric Luper is like the Nick Hornby of teen authors, I’ve decided. Are you familiar with Nick Hornby? Because if you’re not, you should be. He wrote High Fidelity, which was made into a movie with John Cusack. The movie is okay, but the novel is a vivid peek inside the mind (and heart) of a man who is suffering from some serious post-breakup insanity.

Why, you ask, am I bringing up some lad lit author named Nick Hornby when I’m supposed to be telling you about a book by Eric Luper? Well, it’s because I consider High Fidelity to be the gold standard of books about guys who are unhappy in love. And Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto is, without a doubt, the gold standard of books about teen guys who are unhappy in love.

Our hero, Seth, has just been dumped by his girlfriend. To make things worse, he sees his father at Applebee’s with some woman who is not his mother. And he gets fired from his fourth job in a year. So he harnesses his angst and starts a podcast called The Love Manifesto, which is one of the most awesome things I’ve seen in print. Come June, readers will get to peruse partial transcripts from Seth’s show, which I’m happy to report are incorporated into this novel. (Rumor has it we’ll even be able to listen to The Love Manifesto, as Eric and Harper Collins are actually working on bringing the podcast to life. I can’t wait to listen in.)

Right. So what is it I adore so much about this book? It’s hilarious. It’s heart-wrenching. It’s insightful. It includes a list of things Seth Baumgartner loves about his ex-girlfriend, and the items on the list are brilliant in a way that is reminiscent of Harry Burns (from When Harry Met Sally, which I realize I harp on about all the time, but it is an excellent movie). I may be a bit too old for Seth, but even I know that when he grows up, I’m going to marry him, because he is one of the most fall-in-love-with-able characters in all of teen fiction.

Seriously, my friends. I don’t do this preview thing too often, just in case a pub date gets pushed back. But what I’m telling you is that you must go and pre-order this novel. You must read it the day it is released, which is supposed to be June 8. You must then report back here, where I’m sure we’ll be having a huge party for Seth Baumgartner and his creator, Eric Luper.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bunch of other books to eat read this weekend.*

Much love,
brina

*I changed my mind. Am re-reading Love Manifesto. It’s that good.