Cynthia Ceilán gives Cupid the shaft*
and goes in search of unconventional love in Weirdly Beloved: Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings, and Love Gone Bad.
*and he likes it!
Weirdly Beloved: Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings, and Love Gone Bad
Cynthia Ceilán
2008
The Lyons Press
Weirdly Beloved is Ceilán’s second you can’t make this stuff up work of nonfiction.* Part journalist, part autobiographer, Ms. Ceilán reports on the stranger side of love while recounting her own love- and family life. There is plenty of material for her in a world populated with the likes of Charles Tombe. A native resident of Sudan, Mr. Tombe had to endure a grueling legal trial for simply falling in love…
Ceilán rounds out the text with recollections of her own relationships, including a failed marriage and her ongoing struggle with the Old Aunts. She is an insightful observer of both herself and others, and her clever wordplay and keen wit shine throughout the entire work. The book’s memoir aspect makes for enjoyable cover-to-cover reading, while the concept and chapter organization make it a great coffee table book, a true conversation piece.
So head on down to your local bookstore and say “I do” to Weirdly Beloved: Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings and Love Gone Bad.
*Cynthia Ceilán’s first book, Thinning the Herd: Tales of the Weirdly Departed, deals with an array of unusual deaths. You can, for lack of a better term, check out a review of Thinning the Herd here.