My Heart Is an Idiot

Davy Rothbart is the literary equivalent of the popular high school boy that smokes Marlboro reds and throws house parties, yet still manages stellar grades and near perfect attendance. In his comical and often charming collection of essays, My Heart Is an Idiot, Rothbart obsesses over love and life on the road, sharing his chaotic tales of mishaps, blunders, and fortuitous self-discovery.

From big cities to rural back roads, Rothbart's infectious desire to connect with all walks of life from across the country never falters. In "Human Snowball," Rothbart travels to Buffalo, in hopes of sparking a romance with a longtime friend. His journey takes an unexpected turn, leaving him running errands around the city with an odd group of strangers, including a 110-year-old man, a car thief, and an Asian family that he can't help but fall in love with in his own curious, bighearted way. The story epitomizes Rothbart's uncanny ability to attract bizarre occurrences and people into his life. Sometimes his heart may be too big, leaving him constantly falling in and out of love at the drop of a hat, but it's the same splendid emotion that keeps him perpetually searching for the next beautiful woman or lonely highway drifter.

The collections enduring emotional core is found in "New York, New York," a chilling personal tale of a Greyhound trip to New York City just days after 9/11. Then there is the stand out "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Pee on the Wall," in which Rothbart tracks down a literary conman while equipped with several bottles of his own urine as ammunition. "The Strongest Man in the World" shares the controversial story of Byron Case, a personable young man serving a life sentence for a murder he very well may not have committed. Regardless of subject matter, Rothbart supplies readers with a grounded perception of the world, even as it spins out of control around him. These stories of longshots and unexpected human connection remind us that our existence doesn't always have to be so tedious. Sometimes the scenic route is the best way home, even if it will set you back a bit.