Like a child born of the bell hooks classic All About Love and Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, Adam Gnade’s latest autobiographical novel takes a hard look at love in all forms—romantic, platonic, love of place, of chosen family, of destiny and purpose. Structured in large part as a book of lists, I Wish to Say Lovely Things is a complicated, big-hearted look at what it is stay loving and gentle in a violent age. Through it all, Gnade’s characters struggle to get out of bed in the morning, fight for what they believe in while getting zero in return, and hope like hell in the face of hellish hopelessness. I Wish to Say Lovely Things is a graceful, philosophical, clear-eyed beacon with which to light your path through this painful, exhausting, and tremendously magnificent life.
Praise for the writing of Adam Gnade
“Lucid, life-affirming prose from an empathetic master.” -Yannis Philippakis of the band Foals
“Adam Gnade is the kind of talent who will remind you how necessary it is to stay human, stay empathetic, stay true.” –Szilvia Molnar, The Nursery
“The king of underground fiction. Every word is truth.” -Nathaniel Kennon Perkins, Wallop
“Adam Gnade is a writer who can capture what it feels like to feel everything.” -Dana Margolin of the band Porridge Radio
“Adam creates another world through his writing, one that is visceral and sharp, and helps this one make more sense.” -Lora Mathis, The Snakes Came Back