A first glance at the title I Wrote This Book Because I Love You suggests that author Tim Kreider may be paying tribute to one person. He is not.

Kreider's writing is autobiographical in the sense that he writes extensively about each of his previous partners and his current partner—in this series of essays, he focuses on these relationships, but not exclusively.

Tim Kreider is a cartoonist, essayist, and teacher of creative nonfiction. This book, his newest, isn't a self-help book, but reading through it makes one reflect on their own life. Kreider achieves this self-reflection brilliantly and sometimes amusingly when examining each of his relationships. His disarmingly candid analysis keeps one reading.

At the end of I Wrote This Book Because I Love You, Kreider gravitates towards a zen-like acceptance of how things are, that not everyone’s meant to be in a relationship, and that not every relationship is meant to last. I enjoyed Kreider’s book for the sometimes-intriguing details of his relationships and life experiences, but also because I felt he was telling incisive truths about himself. Readers will admire his honesty while learning valuable and long-lasting lessons from his experiences

For other books by Tim Kreider, check out We Learn Nothing: Essays and Cartoons and The Pain: When Will It End? 

Kreider also has a featured essay in The Best American Essays, and he provides an exhaustive list of his articles, which includes essays on comics, books, and film, as well as op-ed pieces.

For more on personal essays, read my 2012 blog post, The Art of the Personal Essay, which I wrote after hosting a workshop on the topic.