Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 5 reviews on
Lane Moore is a rare performer who is as impressive onstage--whether hosting her iconic show Tinder Live or being the enigmatic front woman of It Was Romance--as she is on the page, as both a former writer for The Onion and an award-winning sex and relationships editor for Cosmopolitan. But her story has had its obstacles, including being her own parent, living in her car as a teenager, and moving to New York City to pursue her dreams. Through it all, she looked to movies, TV, and music as the family and support systems she never had.
From spending the holidays alone to having better "stranger luck" than with those closest to her to feeling like the last hopeless romantic on earth, Lane reveals her powerful and entertaining journey in all its candor, anxiety, and ultimate acceptance--with humor always her bolstering force and greatest gift.
How to Be Alone is a must-read for anyone whose childhood still feels unresolved, who spends more time pretending to have friends online than feeling close to anyone in real life, who tries to have genuine, deep conversations in a roomful of people who would rather you not. Above all, it's a book for anyone who desperately wants to feel less alone and a little more connected through reading her words.
homeless romantic. pastry chef, photographer, procrastinator. queer. she/her.
I am listening to the audiobook of Lane Moore’s How To Be Alone as read by the author and, uh...realizing a lot of things about myself.
she/her 🧠 mental health advocate 💻 marketing/content 📝journalist writing about pop, health, digital lives📅remote work enthusiast 📩kritikanarula18@gmail.com
Writers do a lot of things, but the most magical thing remains the courage they give their readers. The courage to own parts of their story they were previously ashamed to, or felt judged by. It's what @hellolanemoore did for me by talking about her life in How To Be Alone. 💖🥺 https://t.co/TeUTb76s1J
"Lane Moore turns a dismal childhood into laughs. [Her] story offers insights about the effects of childhood trauma and our capacity for resilience."-- The Washington Post
"The most epic, incredible, soaring parts of your story, are the places where you're tender, and funny, but also so harrowingly sad and devastated. Your commitment to survival is more than a notion; it's a balm, an affirmation, an eternal love note, and a sacred love manifestation that starts as a whisper and rises into the atmosphere. How to be Alone gave me closure. What a gift it is to know that there's another person in the world who's so brave and true to her spirit that she survived the hardest parts of being alive. Instead of sinking into despair or madness; being waylaid by bitterness or tragedy; or turning the grueling and terrifying dark of isolation against yourself, you've transmuted it into a fire so bright that it blazes brilliantly, with a classic, universal humanity. James Baldwin said, "You think your heartbreak is unprecedented in the world, and then you read. How To Be Alone is like that."-- Bitch Media
"Honest, hilarious, and deeply intimate. How to Be Alone is a profound first book from a truly talented writer."-- Bustle
"[How to be Alone] pulls no punches . . . Readers will find themselves in her stories, and even if they don't, they will come away from this book having learned something. A great book for all ages but should be required reading for 20-somethings navigating young adulthood."-- New York Post
"[A] bracingly honest memoir...Moore is especially equipped to address the taboo of loneliness, along with other adult problems, with hilarity and aptness."-- REFINERY 29
"Even if you don't know Lane personally, she still feels like someone you've known for years. And that's exactly what reading How to Be Alone feels like: having an honest conversation with an old friend."-- Hello Giggles
"In funny, super relatable, and smack-you-in-the-face-with-how-thoughtful-it-is prose, Moore talks about crushes, identity, feminism, and finding self-worth when everything inside you is telling you that you kind of suck. Funny enough, How to Be Alone made me feel a lot less alone."-- Marie Claire
"Enter Lane Moore, who is the cutest human, creating relatable comedic material that is so raw, you'll want to cry and cuddle with her-- partly because she point-blank states that she craves comfortable, platonic cuddling, and partly because you've realized, while reading, how much you crave it, too."-- Sometimes Snarky
"It might sound like a downer, but she manages to add a lot of humor along the way."-- Bustle
"While Moore is delving into some of the most difficult moments of her life, she does it with wit and humor in a way that makes this book an enjoyable read."-- BITCH MAGAZINE
"How to Be Alone by Lane Moore isn't a self-help book or one about mental illness but I included it because I think you might find some encouragement within the pages of this book."-- All the Good Books