The Lover’s Dictionary

By David Levithan

Review by Katie Daringer

The Lovers Dictionary was published in 2011 by American author David Levithan. This novel is Levithans’ first adult novel about a modern love story told entirely through dictionary definitions. The novel was originally published in 2010 and is 211 pages long, depending on the version you get. David is 47 years old and currently lives in Short Hills, Millburn, NJ. He graduated from Brown University and has even written movies such as Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List. David was nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction, Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children’s/Young Adult. He was awarded Lambda Literary Award for Children’s/Young Adult.

In, The Lover’s Dictionary you are confronted as a reader with bold definitions that seem out of place. At first, I wanted or needed to know what the gender of the characters were, but slowly I started to appreciate how vague Levithan was being. By not labeling the characters I as a reader was able to imagine the scenarios on my own and was able to just read the story without any hang ups. The story seemed to flow very quickly, even though I had to look up some of the words. I don’t think that someone can write about that kind of pain without actually experiencing it first-hand, in some sort of way. Books are like songs, a window to the soul. I would strongly urge someone to read this novel for its literary credibility.