Searching for Love

From The New Yorker’s archive: a selection of pieces about looking for and finding love in all its varieties. View in browser | Update your preferences Searching for Love Finding love is never simple, which is why there are so many songs, epics, novels, and movies about it. The past year of fear and separation has hardly helped. Some accounts of emotional life during this period have been funny, some deeply moving. This week, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about the search for love in all its varieties. In “Why Dating Is Drudgery,” Alexandra Schwartz explores the intriguing history of courtship and its attendant social customs. In “The Love Business,” Evan Osnos profiles Gong Haiyan, the influential founder of China’s largest Internet matchmaking service. In “Looking for Someone,” Nick Paumgarten writes about shifting trends in online dating. (“It’s senseless, at least in the absence of divine agency, to declare that any two people were made for each other, yet we say it all the time.”) In “The Love App,” Lauren Collins considers the ascent of Between, an app for couples that is popular with young people in South Korea. Finally, in “Sima Taparia’s Matchmaking Business Booms in Lockdown,” Sheila Marikar examines the quest for romance—aided by a Netflix reality star—during the pandemic. Taken together, these pieces highlight the foibles, the strengths, and, yes, even the humor of our search for love in increasingly challenging times. —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Books Why Dating Is Drudgery Is dating worth the effort? By Alexandra Schwartz | May 23, 2016 Matchmaking Dept. Sima Taparia’s Matchmaking Business Booms in Lockdown The star of the Netflix reality series “Indian Matchmaking” is actively trying to match more than a hundred clients. By Sheila Marikar | September 7, 2020 Letter from Seoul The Love App Romance in the world’s most wired city. By Lauren Collins | November 25, 2013 Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Books & Fiction Newsletter Book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature, twice a week. Letter from China The Love Business With the country’s new freedoms, choosing a mate has become ever more complicated. By Evan Osnos | May 14, 2012 True Romance Dept. Looking for Someone Sex, love, and loneliness on the Internet. By Nick Paumgarten | July 4, 2011 You're receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.