Review: Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found by Sophie Blackall

Title: Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found
Author: Sophie Blackall
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Publish Date: September 2011
Source: Owned

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "In her first book for adults, the artist Sophie Blackall creates a deeply felt, poignant book about love—a book that captures the mystery, the yearning, at times the cosmic humor behind the “what if?” of a missed connection.

Like a message in a bottle, a “missed connection" classified (usually posted on a website) is an attempt however far-fetched, by one stranger to reach another on the strength of a remembered glance, smile, or blue hat. The anonymous messages are hopeful and hopeless, funny and sad. Ms. Blackall, award-winning illustrator of Ruby’s Wish and Big Red Lollipop, has turned some of the most evocative (or hilarious) of them into exquisite paintings.

Missed Connections is a collection of illustrated love stories. There’s “We Shared a Bear Suit.” “If Not for Your Noisy Tambourine.” “Hairy Bearded Swimmer.” Each is told in the shorthand of a “missed connection,” and then illustrated in Chinese ink and watercolor. The paintings are extraordinary: delicate yet full of feeling, each springing from one little detail of the post into a fully imagined world. Each brings the voyeuristic pleasure of watching love at first sight, and the pleasure of watching an artist discover a fresh new way to tell a story. And not all the connections are missed. Hidden in the book are three pieces that conjure up the magic of love found."

My Two Cents:

I am a romantic at heart and admittedly I love reading Craigslist's Missed Connections. It is so strange and so beautiful to me to think that one passing glance could move some to post something about exchanging smiles on the street or on the Metro. It's even more beautiful to me when someone posts a Missed Connection about someone that they knew a long time ago and now with this digital age that we live in, not giving up hope that someday they might be able to reunite with someone that they loved and/or cared about. Human connection in all of its many forms is truly a beautiful thing.

This book explores that human connection through words and charming, sometimes whimsical drawings. I really loved it. Some of the Missed Connections are funny, some make you wonder about the people that wrote them, some make you wonder about the people they were written about, and some (and these are the ones that get me) are absolutely heartwrenching! This is one of those books that will make you feel all sorts of different feelings - it is definitely a rollercoaster ride!

If you like Missed Connections or even if you are just interested in reading about the human condition and the human heart, this book would be a great pick. I know that this is definitely going to be a book that I go back to over and over again!