About this title: Anneli Rufus, a writer and editor, speaks eloquently of the joys of being alone and the relationship of solitude to religion, sex, eccentricity, the arts, and the Internet. She also writes about other famous loners, who include Emily Dickinson, Greta Garbo, Batman, and the Unabomber.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: A good reading copy only. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. Contains little marginalia. -, Trade PaperBack, Good / read more
Description: Good. 2003-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Has a very light crease at the spine. Has three red dots on the bottom, inside edge. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Close to fine condition. Just slight corner bends. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: 2003-01-06
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: Very Good. 2003 pb, not ex lib, no remainder marks, clean cover, appears unread, spine no crease, pgs clean tight no marking. u88C. read more
Edition: 1st Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Marlowe & Co., New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: Good with no dust jacket. 1569245134. Softbound, light wear/soil, crease at spine, pgs clean/white; 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Marlowe & Co, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: Fine. 8.25x5.5 inches. 286 pages. Color illustrated cover with white and yellow lettering. Delivers a long-overdue argument in praise of loners and recognizes loners as a vital force in world civilization rather than damaged goods who need to be "fixed.". Rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness and that the only experiences that matter are shared ones. Clean, tight, bright. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Da Capo Pr
Date Published: 2003-01-06
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781569245132. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Marlowe & Company
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781569245132ISBN:1569245134
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Fine; Collectible. 1st printing w/ full 10 number line. Great condition. No marks/underlines/highlights. Pages are clean and tight. Minor shelfwear. Free deliver confirmation. Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
"as a declared loner, i found that Rufus' argument in defense of loners not being weirdos and societies castaways, was comforting. i've been saying these things about myself all along, but still people think i have something to prove. Rufus clearly states that preferring to be alone is no more abnormal than wanting constant company. the book outlines many situations in life from stardom to clothing styles, and honorably defends the loner by justifying our reasons with, guess....reason. there were a few parts that seemed to be over the top, but that's because i didn't identify with those situations. at the end, though, i felt as if someone had read my mind."
"I am a loner. That's just the way it is. I'm the kind of loner, however, that does have the 'social butterfly' gene, though it's definitely recessive. I'll happily become Johnny Extrovert whenever and wherever the occasion demands, but let there be no doubt: I prefer my own company or that of my dogs over a lot of people that infest society. The essays in this book are sort of an 'I'm OK, you're OK' declaration by someone 'afflicted' with the same blessing, that being the ability and the willingness to be alone. It's a trait from which I think a good many people could derive significant benefit.
I found the essays to be well-written and well-researched where research was a necessary augmentation to point being made. The overall thesis is that 'Loner' is not a bad word. I've always known this, but it was refreshing to see someone else articulate it in published form."
"I had high hopes for this book and if I had stopped reading after the first chapter it would have gotten 5 stars. The author does a masterful job of paraphrasing the same concept over and over again. I wish she had focused more on the personal stories of brilliant innovators/artists/authors who were loners (Thoreau, Dickinson, Michelangelo, Lennon, etc.) instead of spending so many pages painting loners as an oppressed minority who do all the work but are constantly getting the shaft."
"For a self-proclaimed loner, Anneli Rufus seems to care an awful lot about what other people seem to think of herself and her fellow loners. Beyond the introduction, however, she offers a thoughtful insight into the lives of people that just don't care to spend lots of time with other people. "Groupthink" she calls it, evolved as a survival mechanism, when it really did take a village; hunting, gathering, and child-rearing couldn't all be done by one person - the help of all was needed. Now we are very self-sufficient, but artifacts of that ancient lifestyle remain, leading to the misunderstanding, disdain, and pity of those that don't want to be part of the group anymore.
She is careful to make the distinction between a true loner who prefers solitary endeavors to the outcasts forcefully alone because of their rejection by their peers. She bristles rightly when discussing how, when discovered to have uncomfortable mannerisms or to have done something terrible, one is branding a loner as a means of isolating that person from "the rest of us." Understandably she's bothered by the fact that it is no longer acceptable to laugh at the physical differences of others, but common place to ridicule, talk-about and otherwise degenerate those that stand outside of society.
In discussing the broader themes, each chapter deals individually with a different aspect of modern culture (not just western) and how these solitary individuals are perceived and what affect they have on that field. Popular culture, community, film, literature, advertising, friendship, love and sex, technology, religion, sanity, crime, clothes and environment are some of the many areas she touches on. Her discussion of art and the process of the artist was in particular very interesting; herself an artist, she muses on the act of creating and the isolation that such a personal and intense experience brings on the creator.
In reading about her life, and the lives of people like her, I felt comforted, realizing that I really am OK. That my disinclination to spend all of my free time with others may not be the norm, but that it's no less valid and that I'm certainly in good company. She has a good understanding that loners are different. Not better. Not worse. Just different. I truly thoughtful read."
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