freckles1987's review
4.0
Part memoirs, part essay collection, and part reader's advisory; Am I Alone Here? didn't excite me when I picked it up but I found I couldn't put it back down. Admittedly, I have never read any of Orner's fiction but now I want to. Over 41 or so essays Orner explores writing and reading; his father's death and his daughter's birth using novels and stories as his meditative center. Each chapter/essay centers along a certain author or story, drawing themes to correlate with marriages, deaths, births, and loneliness. This category-defying memoir? essay collection? literary criticism? was a pleasure to read. Not only did I come away from this book with am appreciation for Orner's writing, but a long list of books to read.
jmyanish's review
3.0
I love reading about reading- authors, literary critics, any enthusiasts. It’s all a little self-involved, but a quick and fun read regardless.
ginath13's review
5.0
An essay collection from a reader to other readers. An oversimplification really. Peter Orner is one of my soul mates on this earth and just as we have so very many things in common, the one that stands out the most right now is that we need stories like we need air!
denimchild's review against another edition
4.0
I was really wavering between 3 and 4 stars for this one, but I decided to give Am I Alone Here? 4 stars because some of the passages were just too good. According to Goodreads I highlighted 59 extracts in this book, and I'm not surprised. Many of the stories were moving, funny, etc. but there was a bit of lull midway, that the author couldn't full shirk off.
Lots of quotable material, but too many rhetorical questions. Sometimes this book read like an extended Carrie Bradshaw monologue.
For the most part however, I enjoyed this book, and I enjoyed reading about the passion Peter Orner has for books.