‘My Heart is an Idiot’: Essays on heartache and humor
Brooklyn BookBeat: Author to celebrate paperback launch in DUMBO
Though at times misguided, Davy Rothbart is, without question, a lovable romantic. In the sixteen autobiographical essays that make up his book “My Heart is an Idiot” (Picador; September, 2013), Rothbart wears his heart on his sleeve. In spite of his distasteful practical jokes and ridiculous schemes, Rothbart wins over his readers with his brutally honest and comical retelling of the (mis)adventures that have informed his heartfelt writing.
Beginning with his childhood—when he shamelessly took advantage of his deaf mother, until one day the joke turned on him— Rothbart chronicles his life in eventful snapshots. Several of the stories describe his romantic escapades, whether he was road tripping across the country to surprise a woman he hoped would become his girlfriend or counting, with a lover, the urine-filled bottles he’d acquired.
And though he tends to fall into unrequited love, Rothbart has a knack for recognizing the humor and wisdom he gathers in each of his episodes.