I Love Dick is an epistolary novel with autofiction elements[1] by American artist and author Chris Kraus.[2] It was published in 1997 by Semiotext(e).

I Love Dick
AuthorChris Kraus
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSemiotext(e)
Publication date
1997
Publication placeUnited States

I Love Dick merges fiction and memoir formats to explore the writer's psycho-sexual obsession with the eponymous "Dick", a media theorist and sociologist whose last name is never given over the course of the text, despite other art world personalities appearing as themselves. Critics hailed it as both "radical" and "gossipy".[3] The book announced Kraus' particular brand of "confessional literature" that she herself described as "lonely girl phenomenology".[4] American writer Rick Moody called it "one of the most explosive, revealing, lacerating and unusual memoirs ever committed to the page".[5]

I Love Dick is written as a series of love letters written to an addressee who is derived from the real-life cultural critic Dick Hebdige. Hebdige described the novel as a violation of his privacy.[1] "Dick"'s sporadic presence in "Chris Kraus"'s life changes her thinking about her marriage (to philosopher and Semiotext(e) founder "Sylvère Lotringer") and to her work, as well.

The Guardian described the novel as "a cult feminist classic" despite its poor reception on release in 1997.[6]

In 2016, Joey Soloway[a] adapted the novel as a television series, produced by Amazon Studios.[7] The first season was released on May 12, 2017.[8] It was directed by Joey Soloway and stars Kathryn Hahn and Kevin Bacon.[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ Was credited as Jill Soloway at the time; they changed their name to Joey Soloway in 2020.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chris Kraus, Female Antihero". The New Yorker. November 14, 2016.
  2. ^ "The Last Book I Loved." The Rumpus.
  3. ^ A Fusion of Gossip and Theory.
  4. ^ Morse, Erik (November 3, 2012). "Chris Kraus: The Noir of Dubya, the blankness of suburbia and bringing Baudrillard to sing in the Nevada Desert". Dazed Digital.
  5. ^ "I Love Dick". Serpent's Tail. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "I Love Dick: The book about relationships everyone should read". TheGuardian.com. November 2, 2015.
  7. ^ Gajanan, Mahita (February 18, 2016). "Coming from the creator of Transparent: I Love Dick, the TV version of cult novel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "I Love Dick critic reviews". metacritic.com. May 24, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 18, 2016). "Amazon Orders 'I Love Dick' Comedy Pilot From Jill Soloway". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
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