Select Excerpts, Press & Praise For Open 

Open Excerpts

I May Be Bisexual (New York Magazine’s The Cut)

The Disorientation and Relief of Owning My Submissiveness (LitHub)

How I Blew Up My Reverse Pretty Woman Arrangement (The Daily Beast)

When in Roman Orgy… (Men’s Health)

Read the First Pages of OPEN (Yahoo)

Print

NPR Book Review of OPEN (NPR)

In Open, Rachel Krantz Questions Our Quest For ‘The One’ (Vogue)

10 Books To Add To Your Reading List This Month (LA Times)

A Sexy, Messy, Necessary Look At Polyamory: Open By Rachel Krantz (The Advocate)

Open-Minded: Bitch Magazine Print Feature (Bitch Magazine)

Sex and Serious Journalism Co-Mingle in an Intimate Memoir on Kink and Polyamory (Times of Israel)

Marie Claire Interviews Rachel Krantz (Marie Claire)

Publishers Weekly Review of Open (Publishers Weekly)

Rachel Krantz’s Memoir Is a Howl For Healing Hearts (Unicorn Magazine)

Redefining Relationships (Lilith Magazine)

The Millions Interviews Rachel Krantz (The Millions)

On Healing Through Your Creative Work (The Creative Independent)

On Liberation: A Conversation with Rachel Krantz, Author of Open (Hippocampus Magazine)

‘Open’ Examines the “Gray Area” Beyond Total Monogamy (Shondaland)

This NSFW Memoir May Be the Therapy Session You Didn’t Know You Needed (Popsugar)

Book Review: Open By Rachel Krantz (Feminist Book Club)

An Unrestricted Look Into Nonmonogamy: A Review of Open (Poptized)

A Conversation With Rachel Krantz, Author of OPEN (The Michigan Daily)

25 of the Most Anticipated Books Coming Out Next Year (Buzzfeed)

The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of 2022 (Electric Lit)

8 Jewish Books You Should Read This January (Alma)

Queer and Feminist Books Coming Out (Autostraddle)

12 Can’t Miss Debut Books This January (Debutiful)

The 10 Books You Should Be Reading This January (Inside Hook)

Video Interviews

Greenlight Bookstore Launch Event With Jen Winston

CTV’s The Social


#OpenEd In Conversation Event

BBC Woman’s Hour

Interview On Craft With The Downtown Writers Jam

Interview With Meditation Teacher Jonathan Foust

On Spirituality & Ethics With Sentientist Conversations

Radio & Podcast Interviews

BBC Woman’s Hour Interview with Rachel Krantz (BBC)

Rachel Krantz on Non-Monogamy and Spiritual Growth (The One You Feed)

Rachel Krantz Otherppl Interview (Otherppl Podcast)

Rachel Krantz Burned By Books Interview (Burned By Books)

2022 Debuts: Rachel Krantz’s Open (WNYC)

What Life Is Like in an Open Relationship (KERA Think)

Open: Non-Monogamy and Sexual Liberation with author Rachel Krantz (Multiamory)

A Sexy, Messy, Necessary Look At Polyamory: Open By Rachel Krantz (The Advocate)

Interview With Chris Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn (Tangentially Speaking)

Rachel Krantz: Liberation & Non-Monogamy (Being LGBTQ)

Rachel Krantz on Using the Tools of Immersion Journalism in Her Own Life (I’m a Writer But)

Reply Guys Interview With Kate Willett (Reply Guys)

Personal Narrative & Liberation with Rachel Krantz (Our Hen House)

Constructing a Reported Memoir with Rachel Krantz (Kobo Writing Life)

Bisexual Brunch Interview with Rachel Krantz (Bisexual Brunch)

Rachel Krantz Is ‘Open’ (The Creative Nonfiction Podcast)

Write the Book You Want To Write: With Guest Rachel Krantz (The Lonely Writer’s Podcast)

Rachel Krantz’s Advice For Writing Memoir (The Shit No One Tells You About Writing)

The Journey to Non-Monogamy with Rachel Krantz (Holyf*ck Podcast with Alexandra Roxo)

Non-Monogamy, Relational Discernment and the Quest for Liberation (A Millennial’s Guide To Saving the World)

Non-Monogamy, Toxic Relationships & Jealousy With Rachel Krantz (Sextras)

Rachel Krantz: On Gaslighting, Manipulation and the Complexity of Non-Monogamy (Polycurious)

Cheating: When Love Lies Interview with Rachel Krantz (Cheating: When Love Lies)

The Need For Nuance in Stories of Nonmonogamy (Do We Know Things?)

Loving Without Boundaries Interview (LWB Podcast)

The Love Problem (Adultish)

Other Praise For Open

“Her vulnerability — along with the 20/20 hindsight she's able to bring to her younger self's emotional journey — is precisely why the memoir works so well. Her warm tone throughout, laced with sometimes rueful, sometimes tender humor, helps the reader trust that she's not working to gratuitously titillate, but to examine sexuality as a vital part of many people's lives that need not be cloaked in guilt, shame, or embarrassment (unless, of course, those are part of a person's kink).” —NPR

“Krantz, a founding editor of the website Bustle, chose to enter a relationship where ‘nothing was off limits.’ But there were limits. Even as her partner espoused sexual freedom, he employed manipulative measures—and, Krantz admits, so did she. Her breathtaking honesty in probing the serious downsides of polyamory while eschewing outmoded patriarchal codes of morality should allow for an overdue dialogue about what makes any relationship work.”Los Angeles Times

“Krantz invites us into her deepest privacy as she explores her body and soul, fears and ecstasies, desires and disappointments. A starkly naked story of a young woman’s adventure of self-discovery. This book will help a lot of people.”—Dr. Christopher Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of Sex at Dawn

Open is a smart, original, ambitious, and deeply absorbing memoir, in part because Krantz wants no less than to help us rethink the concepts of love, sex, and power as we know them. She succeeds by bringing us deftly and irresistibly into her most intimate pains and joys, stretching our understanding of what commitment and autonomy mean.”—Dr. Wednesday Martin, author of Untrue and Primates of Park Avenue

“Don’t look for easy answers in Rachel Krantz’s thrilling meditation-cum-memoir, Open, in which the political gets very personal indeed. Seamlessly shifting from a critique of evolutionary biology to the first touch of his hand on her thigh, this polyamorous coming-of-age story crackles with equal parts erotic energy and searching commentary. A perfect guide to our new world, the only problem I had picking up this book was putting it back down. Open compels, entertains, and may ultimately transform its readers.”—Terrence Real, bestselling author of Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship and The New Rules of Marriage

“Krantz offers an unflinchingly honest account of the highs and lows of non-monogamous relationships, beautifully illustrating the ways that opening up one’s relationship can offer tremendous freedom and painful imprisonment—sometimes at the same time. Open is a necessary addition to the canon of intimate memoirs, one I desperately wish I’d had access to when I was coming of age. It’s a must-read for anyone navigating sex, love, and dating in the twenty-first century.” —Lux Alptraum, author of Faking It: The Lies Women Tell About Sex —And the Truths They Reveal

“ I stayed up all night reading this book, and when I was done, I felt I’d lived another life. A propulsive and fascinating look at sex, desire, and intimacy, Open investigates what we hope for from our romantic partners and how eschewing conventions might help us attain those things—and the pitfalls we might face if we choose a less traditional path.”—Cara Blue Adams, author of You Never Get It Back

“In her frank, evocative memoir, Rachel Krantz delves into a complicated past and looks long—and in blush-inducing detail—at the relationship that brought her into non-monogamy. This book searches for the truth and rejects easy answers. Open is a feat of tremendous candor and vulnerability, and to call it unputdownable would be an understatement.”—Liv Stratman, author of Cheat Day

“Titillating . . . Krantz sweeps readers into a narrative that seduces and educates in equal measure . . . [Open] offers an alluring and insightful look at a life lived outside of conventional structures.”—Publishers Weekly

About Open

An unprecedented exploration of polyamory, from an award-winning journalist chronicling her first open relationship with unflinching candor as she explores this fast-growing movement

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Electric Lit


Can we have both freedom and love? Comfort and lust? Is a relationship ever equal? And is the pleasure worth the pain?
 
When Rachel Krantz met and fell for Adam, he told her that he was looking for a committed partnership—just one that did not include exclusivity. Intrigued and more than a little nervous, Rachel decided to see whether their love could coexist with the freedom to date other people. Could they strike an exquisite balance between intimacy and independence, and find a way to feel passion for one another once the honeymoon phase ended?
 
For Open, her extraordinary debut memoir, Rachel interviewed scientists, psychologists, and people living and loving outside the mainstream as she searched to understand what non-monogamy would do to her heart, her mind, and her life. From exploring Brooklyn sex parties to the wider swinger and polyamory communities, Rachel and Adam attempt to write a new plot for their love story. But they also run up against miscommunications, ancient power dynamics, and seeming betrayals that threaten their love. In these pages, Rachel casts new light on the unique ways coercion and gaslighting manifest in open relationships, and finds herself wondering what liberation really looks like.
 
With an unflinching eye and page-turning storytelling, Open is groundbreaking in both its documentarian approach and its explicit subject matter. From debilitating anxiety spirals to heart-opening connections with the men and women she dates, Rachel puts her whole self on the line as she attempts to redefine what a relationship is—or could be.


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