This Year’s Common Book
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke
There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness. Shameful to talk about and often misunderstood, loneliness is everywhere, from the most major of metropolises to the smallest of towns.
In Seek You, Kristen Radtke's wide-ranging exploration of our inner lives and public selves, Radtke digs into the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another, and the distance that remains. Through the lenses of gender and violence, technology and art, Radtke ushers us through a history of loneliness and longing, and shares what feels impossible to share. Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to the rise of Instagram, the bootstrap-pulling cowboy to the brutal experiments of Harry Harlow, Radtke investigates why we engage with each other, and what we risk when we turn away. With her distinctive, emotionally-charged drawings and deeply empathetic prose, Kristen Radtke masterfully shines a light on some of our most vulnerable and sublime moments, and asks how we might keep the spaces between us from splitting entirely.
KRISTEN RADTKE is the author of the graphic nonfiction books Seek You and Imagine Wanting Only This. The recipient of a 2019 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, Radtke is the art director and deputy publisher of The Believer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and Harper's, among many other publications.
Recent Press
Read the recent story in The Anchor newspaper: Open Books - Open Minds Unites RIC Community in Discussion, by Sophia DiNaro.
Upcoming Events
Annual Student Conference
- Wednesday, April 10
Our Annual Student Conference is a great opportunity for students to showcase their work related to the year’s common book. Please play to participate and contribute!
Previous Events
Open Books - Open Minds Teaching Roundtable
- Wednesday, September 13, 12:30–2 pm
- FCTL, Adams Library 406
Join us for a roundtable about teaching this year’s Open Books – Open Minds book, Kristen Radtke’s Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness. We will have informal presentations and discussion of strategies and approaches to use in the classroom, with perspectives from different disciplines, including psychology, art history, and others. Bring your lunch! Open to all faculty, staff, and students
A Screening of Persepolis
- Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 10 am
- Alger Hall, Room 110
Persepolis will be of interest to anyone reading this year’s OBOM selection, Kristen Radtke’s Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness, both because it is told in animated (graphic) format and because loneliness is an important theme of the book. This animated film is based on the autobiographical graphic memoir by Marjane Satrapi. It was a co-winner of the Cannes Jury Prize and nominee for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. We hope to see you at the screening!
OBOM and Film Studies Program Collaboration
Watch out for this exciting collaboration! RIC Film Studies and OBOM present an original, multi-media story about life, loneliness, and seeking connection in 2023 produced by RIC film students. Our fictional web series premieres on YouTube in November, with parts of the story also told though the Instagram and TikTok accounts of our characters. Follow us on Instagram for updates and behind the scenes info.
Contact OBOM or a Specific Co-Chair
