Duane Parker's Reviews > Miss Lonelyhearts

Don’t be misled by the title and the cover. This short book takes a hard look at serious human issues. Published in 1933 during the “Great Depression”, Miss Lonelyhearts is a dark comedy making light of readers problems. The unnamed narrator and writer of the column is a man. The newspaper considered the advice column a joke, and so did the writer at first. He sums it up best in a conversation with a lady friend, and I’m paraphrasing here. “After a time he doesn’t consider the column a joke anymore. He sees the letters are profound, humble pleas for help; inarticulate expressions of suffering. He realizes the readers take him seriously and he is forced to examine his own life’s values.