Seek You – A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

March 11, 2024 – Northcote

A new(?) genre (at least for me) — long form graphic essay — exploring loneliness with a focus on North America. From cowboys to dating apps, Radtke wants to understand the specific flavour of American isolation that drives behaviour, diagnoses and, ironically, connection.

I used to subscribe to The Believer and have been enamored by the art style for a long time, so for me this was a visual treat. Add to that the actual content, well written, handled with deep curiosity and meditation, this was engaging from start to finish.

It takes a pretty hard left turn towards the end as it explores some frankly distressing experiments that serve as a potent metaphor, but up until that point it meanders across the landscape of late capitalist Western society and the various roots — historical, technological, scientific, evolutionary — of loneliness.

Ultimately the argument made is compelling; that loneliness is a force that causes us to reach towards each other, like love.

Deeply upset to discover that Kristen Radtke is only a year older than me with such immense talent and insight.

Recommended to me by a dear friend living on the other side of the world, who read it at the same time as me, because it made us feel closer. Read books with your friends; it's nice.