Single in America: Before Texting & Tinder

The authors have revised an anthology of single men and women from many walks of life originally created in 1989 from interviews and preserved as if in a time capsule before the dawn of the Internet age, before the Cloud, before smartphones, online dating or Tinder. While their stories reflect that period they also show that the underlying dynamics of dating, of looking for love and union, of coping with being alone have changed very little. The human verities are unmuddied and clear, before the easy access to devices that provide the illusion of connection to one and all. Set free from their time capsule, these interlocking stories form a modern Canterbury Tales of singles, told in their own words and experiences and joined by narrative storytelling techniques that bring the characters to life in their settings and states of mind -- with brief epilogues whenever possible to show us where these people are today.