{"product_id":"hello-stranger-musings-on-modern-intimacies-hardcover","title":"Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eManuel Betancourt\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWitty and winkingly playful, Manuel Betancourt's \u003ci\u003eHello Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e explores modern queer romance and the expansive possibilities of ephemeral intimacies\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Hello stranger.\" As an opening line, you really can't ask for better.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eHello Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e is a book about chance encounters--at a bar, through social media, in a bathhouse--and what a stranger can reveal about who we are and who we could still yet be. A stranger, after all, is a site of endless possibilities. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Manuel Betancourt looks back on his past relationships, he turns to characters and narratives that helped him question notions of what monogamy and coupledom (and relationships and marriage) can and should look like. From films like \u003ci\u003eBefore Sunrise \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Cruising\u003c\/i\u003e to the poetry of Frank O'Hara and the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, Betancourt uses pop culture to make sense of the alluring prospect of forging intimacies with strangers--even, or especially, the strangers within ourselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once a personal excavation and a broad cultural critique, Betancourt grapples with everything from online sexting and real-life cruising to divorces and throuples. \u003ci\u003eHello Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e examines the intimacies we crave, value, and oftentimes destroy with rote familiarity.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMANUEL BETANCOURT is a queer Colombian culture writer and film critic. His work has been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, BuzzFeed Reader, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Film Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGQ Style\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. Manuel is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Male Gazed\u003c\/i\u003e (Catapult, 2023), \u003ci\u003eJudy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall\u003c\/i\u003e (Bloomsbury Press, 2020), and a contributing writer to the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel series, \u003ci\u003eThe Cardboard Kingdom\u003c\/i\u003e (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018 \u0026amp; 2021).\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.7 x 6.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 14, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44798148542566,"sku":"9781646222292","price":35.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/3KD5MbEBrb9781646222292.webp?v=1771235625","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/hello-stranger-musings-on-modern-intimacies-hardcover","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}