Another Word for Love

★ “Wallace’s lyrical eye, sharpened to every detail, lends rhythmic cohesion to a series of events whose context spans from the Los Angeles riots in 1992 to the racial protests in the summer of 2020, and he consistently investigates the collision between the systemic and the personal . . . Wallace’s text is defiant in its honoring of beauty, gratitude, and the care he takes to live and tell his story[,] . . . lending richness and vulnerability to the link between a writer and his readers. Ultimately, this is an intricate and exhilarating memoir—heartbreaking, humbling, and hopeful. An exquisite, soulful must-read.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Stunning . . . What elevates the narrative is Wallace’s capacity for forgiveness and his virtuosic—but never indulgent—prose. This profoundly compassionate volume hugs the reader tightly and doesn’t let go.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Another Word For Love is generous in how genuine the journey, the offering feels. Walking alongside a writer who is attempting to come to terms with the enormity of their survival, its joys and aches. And through this genuine nature, through this striking and beautiful prose, rich with touchable imagery, Carvell Wallace has you by the hand, and never lets go.” —Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year

"This is a remarkable book by one of the finest young writers I’ve come across in many years. An insightful work by a young scribe of deep talent, whose courage and ingenuity is inspirational." —James McBride, author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

“One of the most soulfully crafted memoirs I’ve ever read. I couldn’t figure out how Carvell Wallace blurred time, region, care, and sexuality into something so different from anything I’ve read before." —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy  

“Carvell Wallace’s devastating book vibrates with a rare power—the kind of power that will help save lives. Because not only is it a brilliant evocation of the effects of marginalization on generation after generation, it is the story of how hope persists, and nourishes, despite what has come before. An unforgettable treatise on pain—and love. This book is a gift.” —Hilton Als, author of My Pinup

“Another Word for Love recounts a life marked by profound uncertainty—mother, home, self as ephemeral as fog. And yet out of this morass emerges Carvell Wallace’s voice, clear and sharp as glass—and this book of uncommon brilliance and grace. A classic is born.” —Danzy Senna, author of Colored Television

"Carvell Wallace’s Another Word For Love moves us symphonically, presenting an orchestra of moving parts, sounds, ideas, exquisite images to the reader as if to a beloved. It gives us a nearly unprecedented vision of life. It is one of the most beautiful memoirs I’ve ever read." —Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!

"As a longtime fan of Carvell Wallace, I approached Another Word for Love anticipating more of the heart-rending language and expertly-paced tempo he has been known for in literary spaces. To my delight, I found the author elevated to another level, a new distinction in writing personal stories for public connection. This book is not only Carvell Wallace at his most expansive, his most thoughtful and wise, it is simply him at his best. Wallace allows us into the heart of his most difficult moments but never fails to remind us that all life knows love, or the absence of it, and in this, we all bear some responsibility for the love we choose to give. More than a meditation and less than a sermon, this book was like holding hands with a friend while they tell me everything I ever wanted to know in all the ways I never expected to find out. Every page was worth reading, and I'm sure I'll read them all again and again." —Ashley C. Ford, author of Somebody's Daughter

"Another Word for Love is brimming with insight, poetry, and care. Wallace is a staggeringly talented storyteller whose attention to both narrative and emotional detail is awe-inspiring. This is one to read and then reread." —Morgan Parker, author of Magical Negro and Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night

"A gripping tour through one man's life and mind that is full of passion, humor, and heartbreak. Wallace's debut is no less than a guide for living, an inquiry into masculinity, fatherhood, and intimacy that brims with humility and insight." —Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

"Wallace writes with specificity and generosity about his own particular life, but in cultivating love and generosity for himself and the people around him, he manages somehow to extend the same abundant generosity to his reader. In a book filled with stories—n language that is poetic, profane, philosophical, and funny—what I will remember most is the extraordinary tenderness Wallace brings forth from stony places. A beautiful, melancholy, cathartic anthem for these hard years." —Lydia Kiesling, author of Mobility

"Carvell Wallace has become one of my very favorite writers. This book is really powerful—POW POW POW—especially about finding and excavating love for yourself. This book is going to be a bible to those who are doing the work. I am so grateful for the tremendous courage Wallace summoned to put this all down with such grace, because of the breadth of living and recovery it opens up. In all our affairs, like a real motherfucker of a book." —Jessica Hopper, author of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic