CJ Hauser's The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays is unlike anything I've read and it blew my mind. At its core, the interconnected essays are about love. Hauser uses both personal and family history to dissect parts of her life that give her pause. Hauser's technique for performing autopsies on her previous loves include deep introspection of the impact of specific works on her analysis such as du Maurier's Rebecca and Baum's Oz. Deep inquiry into Mulder and Scully's relationship or the gender dynamics in the 1940 film adaptation of The Philadelphia Story provides a very relatable setting for a reader to also scrutinize romantic choices. Hauser's writing is smart and razor-honest as she peels back layers. What a brilliant process to witness. Nineteen different passages sung so clearly to me, they are underlined, highlighted, dog-eared.