I agree with Nitro that this book was too much like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (which I finished just before starting The History of Love) for me to rave about it without reservation. That said, I really liked it. Leo Gursky is one of the most poignant characters I’ve encountered in a long time. His complete lack of any appreciation of his enormous talent, his fierce loyalty to and grumpy affection for his sole friend, Bruno, his fatalistic but sad acceptance of his lonely march towards death, and his undying love for Alma, make it impossible not to feel an overwhelming tenderness for him. I guess it’s ok ’cause I’m a girl, but I did not feel DJ’s urge to put a fake jacket over the book, even as I sat in the Delta Crown Room bawling as I finished it.