Party of One

The Buddha. Rene Descartes. Emily Dickinson. Greta Garbo. Bobby Fischer. J. D. Salinger: Loners, all,along with as many as 25 percent of the world's population. Loners keep to themselves, and like it that way. Yet in the press, in films, in folklore, and nearly everywhere one looks, loners are tagged as losers and psychopaths, perverts and pity cases, ogres and mad bombers, elitists and wicked witches. Too often, loners buy into those messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature,and hiding from it. Loners as a group deserve to be reassessed,to claim their rightful place, rather than be perceived as damaged goods that need to be "fixed." In Party of One Anneli Rufus - a Prize-winning, critically acclaimed writer with talent to burn - has crafted a morally urgent, historically compelling tour de force,a long-overdue argument in defence of the loner, then and now. Marshalling a polymath's easy erudition to make her case, assembling evidence from every conceivable arena of culture as well as interviews with experts and loners worldwide and her own acutely calibrated analysis, Rufus rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness, the fallacy that all of those who are alone don't want to be, and wouldn't be, if only they knew how.

Anneli Rufus, a prize-winning, critically acclaimed writer, has published more than 500 feature articles in dozens of magazines and newspapers worldwide. She is the editor of the East Bay Express monthly literary supplement and the author of Magnificent Corpses, The World Holiday Book, and the co-author, with her husband, Kristan Lawson, of five travel guidebooks. She lives in Berkeley, California.

an essential defense of the people the world loves to revile-yet without whom it would be lost Isaac Newton. Michelangelo. Anne Rice. Barry Bonds. Haruki Murakami. They and countless others belong to a subculture that will never join hands, a group whose voices will never form a chorus. They are loners-and they have at least one thing in common: They keep to themselves. And they like it that way. Self-reliant, each loner swims alone through a social world-a world of teams, troops and groups-that scorns and misunderstands those who stand apart. Everywhere from newspapers to playgrounds, loners are accused of being crazy, cold, stuck-up, standoffish, selfish, sad, bad, secretive and lonely-and, of course, serial killers. Loners, however, know better than anyone how to entertain themselves-and how to contemplate and to create. They have a knack for imagination, concentration, inner discipline, and invention-a talent for not being bored. Too often, loners buy into society's messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature-and hiding from it. In Party of One, Anneli Rufus delivers a long-overdue argument in praise of loners. Assembling evidence from diverse arenas of culture, Rufus recognizes loners as a vital force in world civilization rather than damaged goods who need to be "fixed." A compelling, morally urgent tour de force, Party of One rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness, and that the only experiences that matter are shared ones.

The Buddha. Rene Descartes. Emily Dickinson. Greta Garbo. Bobby Fischer. J. D. Salinger: Loners, all,along with as many as 25 percent of the world's population. Loners keep to themselves, and like it that way. Yet in the press, in films, in folklore, and nearly everywhere one looks, loners are tagged as losers and psychopaths, perverts and pity cases, ogres and mad bombers, elitists and wicked witches. Too often, loners buy into those messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature,and hiding from it. Loners as a group deserve to be reassessed,to claim their rightful place, rather than be perceived as damaged goods that need to be "fixed." In Party of One Anneli Rufus - a Prize-winning, critically acclaimed writer with talent to burn - has crafted a morally urgent, historically compelling tour de force,a long-overdue argument in defence of the loner, then and now. Marshalling a polymath's easy erudition to make her case, assembling evidence from every conceivable arena of culture as well as interviews with experts and loners worldwide and her own acutely calibrated analysis, Rufus rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness, the fallacy that all of those who are alone don't want to be, and wouldn't be, if only they knew how.

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