Sunday, July 08, 2012

10 Great Off-Kilter Love Stories in Literature


by .  Friday July 6, 2012 - Flavorpill

If you’re anything like us, you like a little quirk with your romance. Or, um, make that a lot of quirk. This week saw the release of Joe Meno’s newest novel, Office Girl, an off-kilter love story between two meandering artist-types trying to make it in Chicago on little more than fumes, awkward sex, and half-baked schemes — until they find each other, of course. After reading the short novel, we had a hankering for some more weird tales of love, so we put together this list of some of our favorite off-kilter romances in literature, from the dark and strange to the relentlessly whimsical. Click through to check out our picks, and as always, be sure to let us know your own favorite book in this vein in the comments.


Office Girl, Joe Meno
A lithe, winking take on the boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl cliché, Meno’s newest novel is like Perks of Being a Wallflower for the 20-something set — and just like that iconic novel of creatives-in-crisis, this one is quirky, clever, and full of bitten tongues and youthful dreaming. Add bicycles, fingerless gloves, and one of the most twee art projects we could have ever imagined, and you’ve got a charming and unpretentious hipster love story destined to be the next cult classic.

Citrus County, John Brandon
We’ve been gushing over Brandon’s newest release, but that doesn’t mean we’ve gotten over our love affair with his last — as the book’s back matter sighs, “teenage romance should be difficult, but not this difficult. Boys like Toby should cause trouble but not this much.” Indeed, this is one of the weirdest love stories we’ve ever had the pleasure to come across, wherein the aforementioned Toby goes to dangerously great lengths to ensure that the object of his affections be open to them, leading everyone he knows down a swampy, twisted path into the darkness.

View the full list

No comments: