The Art of Breaking Up

Book excerpt: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s creative collaborative community HITRECORD looks at love from both sides in this ingenious flippable book. So, you just got dumped, huh? Or did you just dump someone? Doesn’t matter who ended it. Either way, you’re sleeping alone tonight. But don’t worry, you’re not really alone. HITRECORD’s global community of over 750,000 active artists is here to help with The Art of Breaking Up, a new book designed to get you through this trying time. That’s over 750,000 people who know the soul-crushing pain of a broken heart. But instead of wallowing forever in vats of unproductive (but delicious) cookie dough, they’ve channeled all that misery into an insightful, funny, and smart compendium of musings, photography, drawings, collages, puzzles, recipes, games, and more—designed to explore (and distract from) the mind-numbing agony of a romantic breakup. You’ll laugh, you’ll smile, and you’ll probably cry. Everyone knows there are two sides to every break-up, so this book features a double-sided, flippable structure. One side eases the tortured consciences of the HEARTBREAKERS. Flip the book, and the other side considers the plight of the BROKEN-HEARTED. Both sides are organized chronologically with chapters that correspond to the emotional trajectory of both the HEARTBREAKER and BROKEN-HEARTED. Chapters include: Early Warning Signs, Exit Strategy, The Break Up, Acceptance, Depression, Bargaining, Anger, and Denial. Where the two sections meet in the middle there is a compelling, heart-wrenching moment where the HEARTBREAKER and BROKEN-HEARTED connect again, but we’re not giving that away. Inside this book you’ll find plenty of art, stories, comics, and other amusements, such as a Post-Break-Up Relationship Survey, Denial Yoga, Candy Hearts for Assholes, Breakup Greeting Cards, Hex Your Ex Voodoo Doll, The Free Bird Word Search Game, and a playlist or two, including "Right Back at Ya," a collection of songs to stoke the burning rage in your heart. Everything you’ll find in this book was made collaboratively by people from around the world on HITRECORD–an online creative platform for collaborative art and media projects founded and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. With its universal, all-inclusive approach to the subject, The Art of Breaking Up is an acute observation of love and heartbreak in modern times, and maybe–just maybe–a salve for anyone with a broken heart.