I Love You More Than You Know: Essays

Ames' third essay collection brings with it his normal hilarity (no one has misadventures quite as awkwardly funny as Ames), but also, too, pathos. An older and somewhat-wiser Ames seems full of regret -- over who he is, how he's lived, the decisions he's made, the kind of parent he can be to his kid -- and there's a real sense of melancholy undercutting all the laughs. But whether it's mentioning a bump on another author's head or getting lost after a boxing match or fencing against a hated rival as a teenager (my favorite piece from the book), Ames will have you laughing out loud. Ames, in his simple, easy language, seems to reveal all of his flaws so we can laugh at ourselves and accept all the horrible, embarrassing things we all experience and try to hide away.

Having read the previous two collections of essays Jonathan Ames has written, I have been anticipating the publishing of his most recent collection for some time. If you're into a Bukowski type humor, with the sharp well written style of Fitzgerald, you'll love these collections. Ames has a knack for humor, rapier wit, and a passion for prose. I Love You More Than You Know is definitely the type of book you can read a couple of times, and still come back to anytime for a quick laugh. I feel that Jonathan Ames deserves to have a wider audience. With his latest release, chock full of stories that will make you laugh, provoke thought, and possible change your outlook on life and the little things that make it up, I believe Ames' popularity will flourish. Once you read him, you're hooked. I've conducted research, I know. Pick up this book today. You'll come back for his whole catalog.

Jonathan Ames has, as they say, a screw loose, in fact, probably several. These brief essays detail his many neuroses, obsessions with bodily functions, sexual peccadiloes, etc., to quite humorous effect. In fact, the reader will often find him or herself laughing out loud. Mixed in with the hilarity in several instances are some very touching, poignant, even sentimental touches, particularly when he describes his relationship with his son...Join this cult now, so you can say you got in on the ground floor of this seedy and splendid house.

The cover of I Love You More Than You Know seems to suggest that the author (pictured in underpants, fedora, wing-tips shoes and suit case) is running away from something. A few chapters into this book of wonderfully crafted essays there is the realization that he is trying to outpace his own neuroses. The essays are hiliarious and poignant accounts of the author trying to make sense of his own sexual, scatalogical and emotional foibles. I Love You More Than You Know is written in a smart prose style that, I feel, is without peer. I would highly recommed the book for a quick lighthearted laugh out loud funny read, that leaves the reader more hopeful than despairing on the human condition.

Jonathan Ames is one of the great writers of our time and this book is just proof and proof again. There is no reason why David Sedaris is on the bestseller list and not Jonathan Ames. This book is a collection of essays, sort of a poor man's Curb Your Enthusiasm, or a poor man's Sex in the City. Buy this book as an introduction to the brilliantly sick mind of Jonathan Ames and then get the Extra Man by Jonathan Ames. By far his best novel. And the price, $14 for 250 pages! I really dont see how you could go wrong!