On love

"Plotting the course of an affair from the initial delirium of infatuation to the depths of suicidal despair, through a fit of anhedonia--defined in medical texts as a diseae resulting from the terror brought on by the threat of utter happiness--and finally through the terrorist tactics employed when the beloved begins, inexplicably, to drift away, this 'tour de force pelasure...[is] a dissertation/novel on romantic narcissism that's both intellectually stimulating and emotionally touching" (Kirkus Reviews)." -- cover.