Take the L - by Eyal Cohen (Paperback)

About the Book

In Take the L, Eyal Cohen explores a man's journey of love, vulnerability, and masculinity. Through personal vignettes, Cohen examines intimacy, emotional conditioning, and the complexities of male identity, offering insights on love and self-discovery.

Book Synopsis

In this raw and poetic memoir-meets-cultural critique, Eyal Cohen unpacks the emotional armor of contemporary masculinity as he navigates first love, vulnerability, and the quiet unraveling of a relationship in millennial New York.

What happens when a man falls in love for the first time? When he must be vulnerable and exposed for his love to flourish? Why does the promise of intimacy trigger inhibition? And how does his conditioning ignite his instinct to withdraw? Eyal Cohen explores these questions through interweaving vignettes that braid a young man's experience of falling in love with the complexities of contemporary masculinity. Set against the backdrop of a millennial's life in New York City, Cohen offers a fresh take on the true risks and rewards of falling in love. Through the lens of his budding romance with the mysterious "L," Cohen delves into intimacy, communication, and toxicity, offering readers an unabashed and nuanced perspective on the young male experience today. Take the L creates space and provides the language for meaningful conversations for those looking to better understand the young men in their lives--whether they be peers, partners, colleagues, or sons. Through the telling of how his relationship blossomed and then unraveled, Cohen illustrates how love serves as a container for both our deepest wounds and our biggest transformations, calling us to consider how we learn about love from those we know, those we observe, and those who ultimately come to define the word itself.

Review Quotes

"A lively, frank and inventive rumination, experimental in the best sense.If you've ever wondered what goes on in the mind of an intelligent, sex-obsessed, bookish young man of today's generation who is trying to figure out the meaning of love, this is the ideal place to start."--Philip Lopate

"A whip-smart series of awkwardly hilarious, earnest and insightful essays about love, masculinity, youth, age, and the search for meaning, Eyal Cohen's TAKE THE L strikes at the heart with a subtlety that's hard to pull off."--Jinwoo Chong

"With remarkable wit and intensity, Take the L cracks open the soft center of the masculine soul. In this era of accelerated romantic connections and breakups, here is a story of how love can transform one's perception of the entire world. Take the L got under my skin and opened my mind. A wholly original and necessary read."--Wendy Walters

A lively, frank and inventive rumination, experimental in the best sense.If you've ever wondered what goes on in the mind of an intelligent, sex-obsessed, bookish young man of today's generation who is trying to figure out the meaning of love, this is the ideal place to start.

About the Author

Eyal Cohen grew up in Israel before being recruited to play Division I soccer at Stetson University in Florida. After working as a middle school teacher, he moved to New York City for his Writing MFA from Columbia University. His debut book dissects how men think--or avoid thinking--about love. Given his passion for sports, reading bell hooks, and drinking Guinness, he is the perfect person to write this book. He resides in NYC.