Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
Pantheon Books

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Finalist for the Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction, an Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in Nonfiction, and the Goodreads Choice Awards | Longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award | An Independent Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick | Awarded a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant

Named a best book of the year by NPR, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Public Library, The Los Angeles Times, and The Rumpus

A New York Magazine, Harper’s BAZAAR, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Boston Globe, Daily Beast, Buzzfeed, Kirkus Reviews, Observer, Refinery29 and Literary Hub summer book

"Part literature review, part essay, part autobiographical meditation, Seek You exemplifies the capaciousness of nonfiction comics today. . . . The book’s title, a nod to the amateur radio operator 'CQ call,' is evidence of Radtke’s significant command of interesting facts, which range over five sections dedicated to various senses (plus 'Click,' about life online, now its own special category of being in the world). . . . Radtke’s aesthetic is impressive, with clean, crisp black lines, swaths of white shadow and stylized, muted blocks of color. She has a designer’s eye for arresting graphics. . . . . Gorgeous."
—New York Times Book Review

"[Radtke] portrays loneliness not as innate or natural so much as socialized, filtered through and irradiated by culture, politics, and media. For her, the feeling is shaped by the imperfect conditions in which we live. . . . Paging through Radtke’s book, I was again pulled in by the deserted streets and darkened rooms, and by the anonymous, sifting crowds. Ambience can go where words cannot. One can sink deep into the images of Seek You.”
—The New Yorker

"Seek You is a stunning work. Kristen Radtke has managed to capture and illuminate the state of American loneliness. Read it for the incredible research and writing. Stay for the awesome illustrations."
—Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR Weekend Edition

"[Seek You] combines documentary, memoir, reporting, and stunning art: low, dark colors with the occasional neon, making the reader feel like she’s floating on a reflective surface, a reflection with no original. Grays and blues and sea greens recall rain highlighted by streetlights, televisions talking to empty rooms. Through vivid images of people fumbling with house keys late at night, falling asleep on the subway, leaving a liquor store, Radtke shows how recognizable and universal loneliness is—but also how easy it is to remove ourselves from others’ loneliness, to turn theirs into an experience incompatible with our own. . . . [A] generous reading of other people and their loneliness is what Radtke’s book seems to call for—a willingness to read loneliness where we might otherwise see monstrosity, to read love where we see loneliness."
—The Atlantic

"Seek You defies categorization—and it does so in spectacular fashion. . . . The beauty of Seek You is that it feels like a communal experience. Reading this book is reading about ourselves and our lives. . . . The art is superb and each section uses different colors to set the mood, but words take center stage more often than the art, and that turns the art into the perfect companion; simultaneously a way of envisioning Radtke's words and a perfect frame for the information presented. Seek You accomplishes a lot and its unique hybrid nature makes it a must-read.”
—NPR.org

"In this gorgeous graphic memoir, the Whiting Award winner blends autobiography with assiduous research, using her own experiences to illustrate a peculiarly American brand of social isolation—in which silence is punctured by sitcom laugh tracks and cowboys encourage us to be rugged individuals. A genre-bending work that lays bare both the costs and benefits of solitude."
—Oprah Quarterly

"An essential guide to loneliness. . . . Beautifully illustrated, deeply researched. . . . A devastatingly gorgeous book that does for loneliness what The Noonday Demon did for depression. . . . Marvel at Radtke's elegant lines, her elegiac prose, and the capaciousness of her head and heart."
—Oprah Daily

“The latest work of graphic nonfiction from Kristen Radtke pulls apart how loneliness operates to understand why it exists and the forms it can take. . . . In pages full of haunting illustrations, Seek You prompts readers to look inwards. In forcing us to confront our own loneliness, Radtke makes us feel a little less alone.”
—TIME

“We slowly emerge from a long pandemic, and writer-illustrator Radtke sees us, all of us, in our various forms of isolation. This stunning book is less a memoir than a long graphic essay, more a meditation and less a solution. How we disconnect may help us understand how to ultimately connect.”
—Washington Post

“Rarely has nonfiction been as topical as in Kristen Radtke’s wide-ranging exploration of loneliness. . . . Radtke expertly traces the cultural origins of loneliness back to the invention of sitcom “canned laughter,” posing the question: what, specifically, do we lose—as individuals, and as a society—when we turn inward?”
—Vogue

“Beautiful. . . . An essayistic memoir wrapped in the casing of a graphic novel, this awesome study in loneliness--'one of the most universal things any person can feel'--spans laugh tracks, ham radios, and the science of isolation.”
—Vanity Fair

“In this graphic memoir-meets-anthropological study, Kristen Radtke explores the experience of isolation and the lengths to which we go—both individually and as a society—to avoid it. The result is a moving meditation on the importance of human connection.”
—Harper’s BAZAAR

“Radtke is unsentimental yet sincere, citing research on the impact of social isolation on life expectancy (it’s not good) and offering as salient a description of loneliness as I’ve read: “It’s a variance that rests between the relationships you have and the relationships you want. Loneliness lives in the gap.’”
—New York Magazine

“As Radtke notes at the outset of this gripping graphic investigation, she had no way of knowing, when she began researching isolation in 2016, how on-trend her topic would become. Combining personal narrative with social science, evolutionary biology, and pop culture analysis, Radtke’s work is innovative in form and painfully relevant in content. . . . For a treatise about the perils of being alone, it creates a wonderful sense of being drawn into conversation.”
—Publishers Weekly, ★ starred review

“An exploration of loneliness, the troubling ways we’ve studied it, and the subtle ways we strain to avoid it. . . . Radtke is an engaging and thoughtful guide through our fear of being alone. Superb. A rigorous, vulnerable book on a subject that is too often neglected.”
—Kirkus Reviews, ★ starred review (cover)

“In often poetic prose accompanied by stunning illustration, Radtke weaves together personal anecdotes and examples drawn from physical and mental health studies to create a meditation on the causes and cost of isolation. . . . An insightful and compassionate investigation of loneliness.”
—Library Journal, ★ starred review

“In graphic-essay style, Radtke centers her inquiry around four human behaviors—listen, watch, click, and touch—and devotes rich, meandering chapters to each… Radtke’s crisp, vector-drawn illustrations more than hint at reality; rather, in their layering and arrangement, they seem to reproduce it in truer, more emotional detail. Provocative and companionable, this will spark conversation and, undoubtedly, connection among readers.”
—Booklist, ★ starred review

"[A] resonant, haunting volume of graphic nonfiction written and drawn in the key of Edward Hopper. . . . Seek You is part of a growing trend of graphic narratives that hybridize memoir with social history rendered both verbally and visually. . . . But it’s the juxtaposition of Radtke’s carefully researched, tightly composed text with the emotive immediacy of her art that amplifies the book’s impact. . . . There’s comfort to be found, too, in the skillful elegance with which the author conveys her ideas. . . . Seek You is indeed for seekers."
—Los Angeles Times

"Coming just as we begin to emerge from pandemic-related isolation, Radtke’s gorgeously drawn book examines our modern tendency toward an unhappy aloneness—a sad topic, but one she hopes we can understand and conquer, leading us back toward loving community."
—Boston Globe

“Kristen Radtke. . . . has written and drawn an excellent new book — a graphic essay of sorts — that’s expansive in its approach to loneliness. . . . Seek You takes the form of a kind of lyrical probe, starting with the biological then moving in concentric circles, drawing in pop culture, sociology and history, widening the lens.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Creates the space for the reader to mull over one’s own experience with what has rapidly become a critical public health concern. . . . Seek You is a moving look at an affliction shared in common but independently endured.”
—The Observer

“If you listen to gifted author and artist Kristen Radtke, you’ll learn that loneliness has pretty much been programmed into the modern American. . . . [it’s] the kind of deep meditation that makes you want to sit all alone in an empty room. For a long time.”
—Seattle Times

“Moving and provocative, it is a fascinating mix of memoir, observation, history and science, delving deeply into many aspects of loneliness, both familiar and unexpected, that are so firmly rooted in our American way of life."
—PBS.org

"Seek You is the kind of post-pandemic narrative we've been waiting for. It's sad, profound, and shows a superb understanding of the variety of ways in which we process trauma and isolation. A strange hybrid between a graphic memoir and something like a graphic essay, Seek You might just be what we all need to start truly processing the loneliness we've been through.”
—NPR.org, Summer Reading

“In this gorgeous graphic memoir, the Whiting Award winner blends autobiography with assiduous research, using her own experiences to illustrate a peculiarly American brand of social isolation—in which silence is punctured by sitcom laugh tracks and cowboys encourage us to be rugged individuals. A genre-bending work that lays bare both the costs and benefits of solitude.”
—Oprah Daily, Summer Reading

“[Radtke] chronicles Americans’ attempts to reach each other through technology, art, media, and politics. Radtke pulls out moments from recent history that reveal a deeply felt need for connection, specifically those broadly judged or mocked — a woman live-tweeting her husband’s death; Instagrammers rushing to get photos at a cliff where another woman died taking a selfie — and connects them to her lived experience, exploring the possibility of deeper meaning with humility, grace, and remarkable insight into the human condition. It’s a bittersweet and especially moving journey following more than a year of unprecedented (sorry) alienation and despair.”
—Buzzfeed

“The gap between being seen and being truly perceived is one that people grapple with more and more these days, in wholly new and unnerving ways. This gap, where there exists a palpable loneliness, is what Kristen Radtke explores in her latest graphic work, which makes its way across America — and across the America of our minds — probing and prodding at all that is missing in our lives, and all we seek out to fill the emptiness.”
—Refinery29

“Kristen Radtke is a narrator as unflinching and bold as readers should be before approaching this graphic novel. . . . This title has the rare ability to interweave facts with personal anecdotes in such a way that one cannot help but feel a little less alone. . . . Radtke makes loneliness an exercise in being together in our unique aloneness, instead of becoming isolated within it.”
—BUST

"The graphic novel is the ideal format for a book on loneliness. Sometimes only a sole image can conjure the feeling of longing and vulnerability, and other times, you need both words and images to visualize sublime vulnerability. Radtke seamlessly guides readers through the history of loneliness, with striking drawings and thoughtful reflections on the lengths humans have gone to combat or avoid their lone selves. Never has a study on loneliness made me feel less alone."
—The Millions

“[Seek You] sees [Radtke] playing to the strengths on display in her debut and extends her autobiographical meditations into the realms of philosophy, history, biology, and culture. . . . She packs her pages not only with gorgeous illustrations, but also with the kind of resplendent factoids that cast illumination upon her multifaceted subject. . . . She employs an array of an essayist’s most satisfying strategies, ranging from etymology to personal anecdotes to interviews with friends and loved ones to art and television criticism."
—Women’s Review of Books

“Kristen Radtke’s Seek You seems almost to invent something brand new: the comic strip feature documentary? The long-form graphic essay? I dunno, and it really doesn't matter, because the humanity so keenly summed up in every line and mark of Radtke’s hand transcendently transmutes both the seriousness of her investigatory aim and the genuine desperation which underpins its timely yet universal thesis—all the while magnified by the skill, empathy and great intelligence of its author.”
—Chris Ware, author of Rusty Brown

“If you’ve ever felt alone in America, this is the book you have been waiting to hold, and the one that will hold you back.”
—Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk

“Seek You stunned me. Kristen Radtke, one of the best of our literary artists, shines her brilliant light into modern America's experiment in loneliness with this supremely elegant and devastating book. It was my companion during a long, dark night of the soul; I emerged grateful to have had such sleekness and wit, such calm intelligence, to guide me back to daylight.”
—Lauren Groff, author of Florida

"An innovative, lyric exploration of loneliness, Seek You sets word and image in dialogue with each other in organic, unforced, and often poignant ways. It is thrilling in its form, its investigations, and its humanity.... It brings the graphic form into exciting new territory, and has the potential to spark a larger cultural conversation about modern isolation and its consequences."
—Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant jury

Advanced Praise from Booksellers:

“It’s hard to prepare yourself for something like Seek You. Not quite memoir, not quite essay, and never what you’d expect, Kristen Radtke has somehow captured the essence of loneliness in a terrifying era that will surely be defined by it. There are panels of ocean tides and isolated sitcom-watchers that floor me—I’ve been those isolated sitcom-watchers; I’ve witnessed those ocean tides. It’s the kind of book that requires a walk to the nearest public park after reading, or better yet, the nearest river if you have one. Radtke is able to diagnose our loneliness (the human condition, some might say, that yawning gap between birth and death) without pity or preciousness. What else to call this but a masterpiece?”
—Spencer Ruchti, Broadway Books

“Seek You is Kristen Radtke's carefully composed meditation on loneliness, woven together with personal memories, pop culture history, journalism, and psychology research. Radtke's storytelling is deeply empathetic, recognizing that very few things are absolute and certain, and the only thing that matters is that we should be kind to each other. The book has a certain narrative humility that lets the reader connect their own dots and leaves plenty of space for thought. The artist in me loved Radtke's signature clean lines and incredible use of color. After I finished, I scrolled back through just to look at the color design of different sections. Seek You is a beautiful and thoughtful read, during the global pandemic or after.”
—Anton Bogomazov, Politics & Prose

“In Radtke's amazing book, she examines loneliness from various angles—from her own personal stories to the psychological studies of monkeys by Harry Harlow, the early reactions of television laugh tracks, her father's CB radio obsession, social media, cuddlers for hire, and much more. Radtke seamlessly splices interesting and stunning anecdotes about how humans live with solitude, sadness, and worse. Her art is consistently engaging, with intimate close-ups and haunting long shots. I'm blown away by this generous gift of a book. It's my favorite read of the year so far.”
—Kevin Sampsell, Powell’s Books

“Kristen Radtke has given us a beautiful, haunting, and yet somehow ultimately comforting book about something we all experience but can't often verbalize as eloquently as the author/illustrator. It's gorgeous and oddly joyful to read, and I can't wait to share it with our customers!”
—Mary Cotton, Newtonville Books

“A brilliant, well-researched heartfelt personal look at the unique characteristics of American loneliness.”
—Matt Keliher, SubText Books

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been living with those in our bubbles. And we have experienced new kinds of loneliness. SEEK YOU arrives just as we reawaken from a year of being alone and lonely. I adore this book.”
—Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books

“Sure to elicit conversations among readers and it would make an excellent selection for book group discussion.”
—Keith Glaeske, East City Bookshop

“A carefully composed meditation on loneliness, woven together with personal memories, pop culture history, journalism, and psychology research. Seek You is a beautiful and thoughtful read, during the global pandemic or after.”
—Caitlin Baker, Island Books

“Kristen Radtke’s new and magnificent hybrid work is at once an illustrated memoir and a fascinating study on the under-appreciated effects of loneliness on the human body and mind. Moreover, it is a work of breathtaking empathy for the human condition. Perhaps in no other time in modern history has it been more important for us to understand our individual and collective loneliness and how we can rebuild the human connections that sustain us. Radtke’s writing is heartfelt and questioning, and her drawings bring a wonderful vitality and resonance to the text. Seek You is the book that we need now—a relevant and poignant tribute to the “skin hunger” innate in all of us.”
—Lori Feathers, Interabang Books