EBOOK
About
"An essential exploration of the isolation inherent in our era of virtual hyperconnection [that] also asks how we can find our way back to one another."-New York Times Book Review
"I was blown away."-Hanif Abdurraqib, Tin House Editor-at-Large
What does it mean to be a body behind a screen, lost in the hustle of an online world? In our age of digital hyper-connection, Athena Dixon invites us to consider this question with depth, heart, and ferocity, investigating the gaps that technology cannot fill and confronting a lifetime of loneliness.
Living alone as a middle-aged woman without children or pets and working forty hours a week from home, more than three hundred fifty miles from her family and friends, Dixon begins watching mystery videos on YouTube, listening to true crime podcasts, and playing video game walk-throughs just to hear another human voice. She discovers the story of Joyce Carol Vincent, a woman who died alone, her body remaining in front of a glowing television set for three years before the world finally noticed. Searching for connection, Dixon plumbs the depths of communal loneliness, asking essential questions of herself and all of us: How have her past decisions left her so alone? Are we, as humans, linked by a shared loneliness? How do we see the world and our place in it? And finally, how do we find our way back to each other?
Searing and searching, The Loneliness Files is a groundbreaking memoir in essays that ultimately brings us together in its piercing, revelatory examination of how and why it is that we break apart. Vulnerable . . . .An essential exploration of the isolation inherent in our era of virtual hyperconnection [that] also asks how we can find our way back to one another.-New York Times Book Review
An indelible portrait of contemporary isolation that soothes and slices with the same steady hand.-Publishers Weekly
The rare exploration of internet existence that sounds like it has something urgent to say.-The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of 2023
Thought-provoking. . . . What makes The Loneliness Files an engrossing, often astonishing read is the author's admirable candor. By excavating her discomfort and divulging her most vulnerable longing, Dixon generates a higher, rarer level of connection with the reader-and that seems a powerful legacy.
-Chicago Review of Books
With a sharp attention to language befitting her background as a poet, she brings the reader deep into her life's experiences.-Electric Literature
Captivating.-Shondaland
With lyrical, memorable prose, Dixon cracks open the fear of not being remembered. . . . Her story is not only relatable, but significant, as she creates a sense of comfort for anyone who feels a little lonely sometimes. An honest and captivating investigation into human connection within an increasingly digital world.-Kirkus Reviews
Vulnerable, visceral. . . . Reflective yet urgent, reverberating with feeling. Dixon beautifully articulates how loneliness is paradoxically a narrative that people experience together.-Library Journal, Starred Review
Moving and lyrical.-Booklist
Brilliantly honest and beautifully written.-WBUR
Brilliant, unique. . . . An engaging blend of lyrical prose, pop culture references, journal entries, research spirals, and authentic inquiry.-BOMB Magazine
A stunning expose on loneliness, internet life, and aging. Dixon beautifully examines who we are and what we desire through the lens of her life. Dixon's writing is jaw-droppingly good.-Debutiful, A Best Book of November
Profoundly powerful.-Los Angeles Review of Books
Dixon's writing is powered by a certainty that she is not the only one who feels the way she describes, and that there is a value in straightforwardly and vulnerably saying so.-Brooklyn Rail
The intimacy of Dixon's book is vulnerable. At times it reads almost like a private journal. But the effect is tender rather than voyeuristi
"I was blown away."-Hanif Abdurraqib, Tin House Editor-at-Large
What does it mean to be a body behind a screen, lost in the hustle of an online world? In our age of digital hyper-connection, Athena Dixon invites us to consider this question with depth, heart, and ferocity, investigating the gaps that technology cannot fill and confronting a lifetime of loneliness.
Living alone as a middle-aged woman without children or pets and working forty hours a week from home, more than three hundred fifty miles from her family and friends, Dixon begins watching mystery videos on YouTube, listening to true crime podcasts, and playing video game walk-throughs just to hear another human voice. She discovers the story of Joyce Carol Vincent, a woman who died alone, her body remaining in front of a glowing television set for three years before the world finally noticed. Searching for connection, Dixon plumbs the depths of communal loneliness, asking essential questions of herself and all of us: How have her past decisions left her so alone? Are we, as humans, linked by a shared loneliness? How do we see the world and our place in it? And finally, how do we find our way back to each other?
Searing and searching, The Loneliness Files is a groundbreaking memoir in essays that ultimately brings us together in its piercing, revelatory examination of how and why it is that we break apart. Vulnerable . . . .An essential exploration of the isolation inherent in our era of virtual hyperconnection [that] also asks how we can find our way back to one another.-New York Times Book Review
An indelible portrait of contemporary isolation that soothes and slices with the same steady hand.-Publishers Weekly
The rare exploration of internet existence that sounds like it has something urgent to say.-The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of 2023
Thought-provoking. . . . What makes The Loneliness Files an engrossing, often astonishing read is the author's admirable candor. By excavating her discomfort and divulging her most vulnerable longing, Dixon generates a higher, rarer level of connection with the reader-and that seems a powerful legacy.
-Chicago Review of Books
With a sharp attention to language befitting her background as a poet, she brings the reader deep into her life's experiences.-Electric Literature
Captivating.-Shondaland
With lyrical, memorable prose, Dixon cracks open the fear of not being remembered. . . . Her story is not only relatable, but significant, as she creates a sense of comfort for anyone who feels a little lonely sometimes. An honest and captivating investigation into human connection within an increasingly digital world.-Kirkus Reviews
Vulnerable, visceral. . . . Reflective yet urgent, reverberating with feeling. Dixon beautifully articulates how loneliness is paradoxically a narrative that people experience together.-Library Journal, Starred Review
Moving and lyrical.-Booklist
Brilliantly honest and beautifully written.-WBUR
Brilliant, unique. . . . An engaging blend of lyrical prose, pop culture references, journal entries, research spirals, and authentic inquiry.-BOMB Magazine
A stunning expose on loneliness, internet life, and aging. Dixon beautifully examines who we are and what we desire through the lens of her life. Dixon's writing is jaw-droppingly good.-Debutiful, A Best Book of November
Profoundly powerful.-Los Angeles Review of Books
Dixon's writing is powered by a certainty that she is not the only one who feels the way she describes, and that there is a value in straightforwardly and vulnerably saying so.-Brooklyn Rail
The intimacy of Dixon's book is vulnerable. At times it reads almost like a private journal. But the effect is tender rather than voyeuristi