The Reddest Rose Unfurls: Romantic Love from the Ancient Greeks to Reality TV, (Paperback)

Mixing unbridled humor with social theory in graphic novel form, artist Liv Strömquist examines our ideas of romantic love through the ages to explain our modern inability to genuinely connect in a new and revised edition.

In this long-form comic essay, renowned Swedish graphic novelist Liv Strömquist walks us through the evolution and perception of romantic love in her distinctly irreverent style. Strömquist takes on philosophers and pop-culture figures alike--from Socrates to Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyoncé--to break down why modern love feels so devoid of genuine feeling. She reveals how, under late-stage capitalism, our preoccupation with the individual self has warped the concept of love from something felt to just consumed. Strömquist wrestles with our dating culture's isolating obsession with endless choice and comparison, intensified by dating apps, social media, and internet culture writ large.

Now in a new and revised edition, The Reddest Rose is an unflinching, engaging, and deeply humorous remedy for our fatalistic attitude towards modern love.