First love and other sorrows cover

First love and other sorrows

by Harold Brodkey

In First Love and Other Sorrows, the young Brodkey chronicles the world of the educated and affluent middle class of the 1950s, at leisure and in love. He establishes themes that would appear throughout his career: the painful uncertainties of childhood and the halting intimacies of social life. This edition includes three never-before-collected stories, to complete an anthology of rare tenderness, humor, and haunting insight.

More by Harold Brodkey

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?