The New York Times Book Review on Rosecrans Baldwin’s You Lost Me There

“In fiction as in life, you can’t save people from themselves. Although that never keeps anyone from trying, as Rosecrans Baldwin’s amiable first novel demonstrates.” More...

NPR on Rosecrans Baldwin's "stunning" You Lost Me There

“The most surprising thing about You Lost Me There is Baldwin's self-assured, subtle and unfailingly moving prose — this book does not read like the work of a young, first-time novelist. The 33-year-old writer — a magazine editor and former EMT and rock-climbing teacher — is uncannily perceptive when it comes to the complicated and fraught issues of marriage, death and sexual desire, and his dialogue is naturalistic and unforced. Perhaps most impressive, though, is the author's artistic and emotional maturity — You Lost Me There is, finally, a wise book, the kind that eludes many authors twice Baldwin's age. Words, of course, really can be lifelines, especially in the aftermath of loss. It's not always easy to find beauty in pain, but that's what Baldwin has done, and the result is affecting, profound and true.” More...

Diary of a publication process: Rosecrans Baldwin on the birth of You Lost Me There

It’s a good day for Rosecrans Baldwin—his first novel, You Lost Me There, debuts today to critical acclaim. But he’s spent most of his summer in publication purgatory, a time of equal parts elation, head-banging and agonized waiting. In this diary for The Millions, Baldwin chronicles the endless days, anxious nights, and infinite cups of coffee (plus the occasional tequila shot) in the months leading up to the publication of You Lost Me There, now available from Riverhead. More…

A question for Rosecrans Baldwin, author of debut novel You Lost Me There, in stores today

Q: Why did you become a writer? Was it a lifelong goal?

 

A: First I was a reader; growing up, I loved reading most of all. Then in my fifth grade class, we wrote little novels and had them bound and I thought it was so cool, to hold my own book in my hands. I didn’t get serious about writing until college, when I started writing every day.

 

Reading was very important in my family. Writing is also a family interest: my grandfather was a repulsively well-educated poet trapped in an accountant’s body, and he self-published several volumes, much of it lewd. He wrote my parents a sonnet in Latin for their wedding, and on the flip side of the paper was the same sonnet, still correctly rhyming, in Greek. And my father writes poetry for special occasions—it’s a tradition in our family that Rosecranses (my grandfather, now deceased, and my dad and I) write poetry for weddings, birthdays, etc.

 

For his 80th birthday party, my grandfather delivered a long poem about the significant craps he’s taken over the course of eighty years: during WWII; on the day that JFK was shot; etc.

 

So, I’ve always been taught that literature is a wonderfully transgressive thing—it’s a crime you can get away with, if you do it well. That’s the goal.

 

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Rosecrans Baldwin is a co-founder of the online magazine The Morning News and the author of You Lost Me There, a novel about an Alzheimer's researcher who is forced to re-evaluate his own memory when he finds notes written by his late wife about their marriage. You Lost Me There is out in stores today from Riverhead Books.

The Chicago Tribune on Rosecrans Baldwin’s "tender, funny, generous" new book You Lost Me There

In a debut novel that the Chicago Tribune calls “elegantly perceptive,” Rosecrans Baldwin tells the story of Dr. Victor Aaron, an Alzheimer’s researcher who loses his wife in a car accident. Victor idealizes their love until he finds a set of notes written by his late wife that tell a very different story of their marriage, forcing Victor to rethink his ideas of memory, grief, and love. You Lost Me There will be available from Riverhead on Thursday, August 12th. More…

Entertainment Weekly on Rosecrans Baldwin’s “beautiful, brainy, offbeat” You Lost Me There

Rosecrans Baldwin’s highly anticipated first novel You Lost Me There, out in stores this Thursday, August 12th, is the story of a widowed Alzheimer’s researcher who, after finding notes written by his late wife during their marriage, begins to question his own memory of their idealized love. Entertainment Weekly gives You Lost Me There a grade of A- and calls it “beautiful, brainy, offbeat…Baldwin shows steadying compassion and literary flair in the dissection of miseries.” More…

Rosecrans Baldwin’s “excellent” debut You Lost Me There on The Observer’s Very Short List

Rosecrans Baldwin’s debut novel is featured on The Observer’s Very Short List, a website that zeros in on one great cultural discovery a day. VSL has this to say about Baldwin’s book: “Just how fallible are our memories when it comes to accurately remembering our own love stories? This is the question at the heart of Rosecrans Baldwin’s excellent debut novel, You Lost Me There…In showing just how complicated memory can be, Baldwin elegantly explores how even the most analytic of minds can be flummoxed by human emotion.” More…

BookPage interviews Rosecrans Baldwin about his “unforgettable” debut You Lost Me There

Rosecrans Baldwin talks to BookPage about his writing process and his experience researching Alzheimer’s in preparation for his debut novel You Lost Me There, forthcoming from Riverhead Books on August 12. You Lost Me There is the witty, poignant story of an Alzheimer’s researcher who, upon discovering notes written by his late wife, finds that his wife’s memory of their marriage differs drastically from his own. More…

Girl in Translation, You Lost Me There among EW's “Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer”

Entertainment Weekly has selected 18 summer books they're anxious to tote to the beach, and two Riverhead debut novels bookend their reading season: Jean Kwok's "fresh and new" Girl in Translation, out on May 3, and Rosecrans Baldwin's You Lost Me There, coming in August. Read their full list here.