In 1978, during their senior year of high school, all-star jock Craig McKenna and the brainy Travis Puckett somehow manage to meet and waste most of that last year of school falling in love, Travis encouraging Craig to keep up with his singing and to believe in himself and Craig putting up with Travis' idiosyncrasies like knowing the birth date and the former address of Judy Garland as well as making lists. During that summer, they trick their parents into allowing them to find an apartment together, to spend as much time together before each heads to college in a different town. But the Summer ends too soon, with promises of writing constantly to one another, which lasts for a while, slowing to a trickle until the letters stop altogether on both sides.

Twenty years later, Travis -- a college history professor who somehow has managed to get the football team interested in American History -- still hasn't gotten over his feelings for Craig and compares his would-be suitors to him. He finally decides once and for all to make up for the time he lost to search for his first real love. With the help of his college roommate Gordo, Travis sets off cross country, his only lead being Craig's mother in St. Louis.

Through various bits of correspondence -- news clippings, emails, answers to history test questions, letters, comments on Websites, lists -- Steve Kluger's "Almost Like Being in Love" tells a charming and humorous tale of boy-meets-boy, boy-loses-boy, boy.... (I don't want to spoil it.) At first, I thought the format would interfere with the story, but instead, it enhanced each of the characters and allowed more insight into their personalities. What better way to show just how neurotic a Travis is than to have him ask his students how he should handle the whole Craig situation in the form of an essay question on a history exam? The format also allowed the witty, sarcastic humor of each character to shine through, and I found myself laughing out loud throughout much of the book. Though I will mention that each character has the same sense of humor, which could easily have made this a one-note book, but the wit and humor is at such a constant pace that I didn't mind.

For me, this turned out to be a true romantic comedy, and I enjoyed reading every single joke and twist in the tale. ( )

- Travis and Craig met and fell in love in high school, but drifted apart after attending college on opposite sides of the country. 20 years later, Travis realizes that Craig was the one, and embarks on a cross-country road trip to get to Craig, and help him realize that Travis is the one for him, too. Like Last Days of Summer, it’s compiled of letters but also of journal entries. Not as fabulous as LDOS, but delightful in its own way – the characters are funny and truly likable, and it made me want to fall in love again… ( )

This book is really a novelty, told in emails, journal entries, letters, etc. It's a mostly decent story, and way more readable than I thought it was going to be. However, too many books like this and it would get tiring.

On a scale of 1 to 10, a 6.

Another fun Kluger book, but not his best work. Quick read. ( )

As soon as you open it, it's immediately obvious that this is not your normal novel. The story is told through journal entries, emails, Interlibrary Loan, phone books and other pseudo-epistolary elements. The story is wonderful, and Travis is a wonderful character. (There were occassional exclamations of "Travis, you dumbass!" from both me and Girl v1.0 when we each read it. Travis is... Oh, Travis.) The story may seem a little slow at first, but it picks up quickly. I read it all in one sitting.

Verdict: Buy this book, OMG. It's a road trip novel with true love and organized pimentos. READ IT. ( )