"I have noticed that the intimacy we feel as readers [of fiction] is often generated far less by characters turning to one another and saying intimate things or doing intimate things," Stacey D'Erasmo writes, "than it is by a kind of textual atmosphere, or maybe one should say a biosphere, a gallery, a zone that both emanates from the characters and acts upon them very deeply and personally." The Art of Intimacy is a perceptive look at the spaces and relationships that bind fictional characters together, using a variety of text by such authors as Joseph Conrad, Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf.
D'Erasmo digs deep into the nuances of literature in order to find the hidden glue that links lovers, family, friends and enemies to each other and to the reader. She poetically and eloquently explains literary devices such as "the subjunctive, shared perspective, image, off-the-page implications [and] the deployment of white space" in minute detail, building layers upon layers of understanding for the reader so that what is not readily visible takes shape and form, leaving the distinct impression that the white spaces in text, as in photography or art, are just as important as the visible black spaces.
Although The Art of Intimacy is not an instruction booklet on writing intimate scenes, readers and writers will gain a deeper appreciation for the lyric need for that which is left unsaid, like the pause in a piece of music which defines the notes around it. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer