Prediction: You will love A History of the Unmarried if you are married, or ambivalent about marriage, or hate the idea of marriage, or hope to be married someday. There is something sincere and surprising here for you, whatever your gender or orientation: if you have ever been in a long-term relationship, or ever hope to be; if you are a fan of Mad Men, old movies, Perry Mason, Frank O'Hara, Sylvia Plath, and/or Jackson Pollock; if you have ever left the place you came from; if you have ever felt "the world/outside desperate to define [you]." I predict you'll laugh out loud at lines like these: "Daniel Craig is hotter than Ted Hughes" and "(GLAAD's not going to like that I just said that)." Mills is unflinching in his honesty and in his refusal to accept easy answers. I predict you'll finish this book mulling on questions for our time ("what does it mean to be married/ yet remain queer?") and questions for all time ("Some things/ are worth dying for, I suppose, but which things?"). I predict you won't be able to put this book down. - Julie Marie Wade
