I Only Cry with Emoticons

A novel by Yuvi Zalkow

Guess what? My awkward characters in awkward situations are now confidently available in my latest novel with Red Hen Press.

Order Now!!! 😱 🌪

IndieBound
Powell’s Books
PDX❤️️: Annie Bloom’s Books (get a signed copy delivered anywhere in the US!), Broadway Books
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository (for international orders)
Amazon.com

Events 🎭🎙

I’ve completed all of my book events, but feel free to contact me if you’d like me to speak at your bookstore, book club, or event. (Or, just gaze longingly at 📸 pictures 📸 from past events and ponder how, once upon a time, Yuvi was willing to leave his attic.)

Praise

A refreshingly zany story about the pitfalls of modern technology and the importance of chasing dreams. …a resounding success.

— Kirkus Reviews

What I love about Zalkow’s fiction is how he zips so many of our contemporary anxieties into smart prose…. I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS is tender, searing, and consistently relatable. Zalkow takes the fragmentation of modern life—like our constantly beeping phones, our up-next streams, the very nature of the always-on internet—and transforms this digital garbage into a story that takes hold of the heart.

— Wendy J. Fox, Bomb Magazine

I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS masterfully captures both the anxiety and hope of our modern lives.

— BuzzFeed

Saul can’t stop messing up his life, but you can’t help but love him for being the sad, funny, awkward, self-deprecating mess he is. With endless wit and quirky charm, Yuvi Zalkow examines the myriad ways we lose touch with our lives and with each other, and the ways we fumblingly inch our way back. I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS is the perfect fun read for all of us other awkward, anxiety-ridden, dis- and misconnected messes in this mess of a world.

— Gigi L, Powell’s Books

A sly, forthright comedy about the intersection of love and technology, men and women, and the way our devices have become a loud third wheel. I couldn't put it down.

— Monica Drake, author of CLOWN GIRL, THE STUD BOOK, and THE FOLLY OF LOVING LIFE

Explores the ordinary ways our lives can go terribly wrong despite our best intentions. In their often-hilarious attempts to find common ground, Zalkow’s characters navigate self-sabotage, second chances and the complicated fluid definition of family in the twenty-first century.

— Margaret Malone, author of PEOPLE LIKE YOU (finalist for the PEN Hemingway Award)

I Only Cry With Emoticons is a hilarious ride through dealing with human connection in a modern age littered with smartphones, tablets, dating apps, and hashtags.

— Glassworks Magazine

Yuvi Zalkow captures today’s simultaneously awkward and endearing digital age.

— KOIN 6 News

Needs more emoticons.

— Benjamin R. Cohen

Book Description

Saul doesn't get why he's misunderstood. At his high-tech day job, he hides in the bathroom writing a novel about his dead grandfather and wonders why his boss wants to fire him. He tells his almost ex-wife about a blind date and wonders why she slams the door in his face. He aches with worry for his 7-year-old son who seems happier living with his mom and her new man.

When the blind date becomes a complicated relationship, and Saul’s blunders at work threaten the survival of the company, Saul has to wake up and confront his fears.

I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS is a quirky comedy that reveals the cost of being disconnected—even when we're using a dozen apps on our devices to communicate—and an awkward man's search for real connections, on and offline.

Conversations & Interviews

Jonesy (audio): I spoke with Ken Jones about my book on his Jonesy Radio Show. Listen to the episode with this link.
Off the Page from WSKG/NPR (audio): I spoke with Crystal Sarakas about my novel. Listen to the episode with this link.
Glassworks Magazine (online magazine): PARENTING, HUMOR, AND DIGITAL WORLDS: AN INTERVIEW WITH YUVI ZALKOW
Bomb Magazine (online magazine): The Spectrum of Metafiction: Yuvi Zalkow Interviewed by Wendy J. Fox
Writer Unboxed (online magazine): Take Five Interview: Yuvi Zalkow and I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS
Largehearted Boy (online magazine and playlist): Yuvi’s Playlist for His Novel "I Only Cry with Emoticons"
Beyond Well (audio): I spoke with Sheila Hamilton about my book and about chronic pain on her Beyond Well Podcast Series. Listen to Episode 180 with this link.