Wilby invites her readers to “hold each other’s hands and work out how to go about relationships in this scary, busy, digital twenty-first century” (8). Ansari states about Modern Romance: “I wrote this book because I wanted to better understand all the conundrums that come up in modern romance” (236). The problems and the challenges of romantic love are themes shared by all three works. Following allegations of sexual misconduct made against Ansari in January 2018, Modern Romance is also now unavoidably read in light of #MeToo (more on that later). Ansari’s focus is on technological development and its effect on love and dating in the digital era Wilby tackles the concept of monogamy and its function in Western society and Nodell presents relationship advice for young women from mid-twentieth-century US romance comics. All three books share a common theme-the search for a successful romantic relationship-which they explore from different perspectives. Two are written by comedians-Ansari and Wilby-and Nodell’s book draws on historical content from American romance comics, itself an emergent heritage genre. The three titles above offer a more humorous, informal look at modern practices of love, dating, and relationships. The literary fields of sociology, self-help, history, and popular culture have, for a long period, produced books about love and romance.
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