Whether you’re looking to consume “MALE TEARS” or “LIBERAL TEARS” or “BILLIONAIRE TEARS,” chances are you can find an appropriate vessel. As the poet Heather Christle writes in “The Crying Book,” humans are continuously producing “basal” tears, to lubricate our eyes, while “irritant” tears flush out foreign objects. Tears for drinking should be “psychogenic,” or emotionally produced; they’re richer in proteins and more viscous. This communicative aspect of crying is one of the trickier notions that Christle wrestles with in her peculiar and indelible book. She opens her book by disabusing anyone who ascribes to that fantasy, while earning the trust of those who don’t.

Source: New York Times December 04, 2019 18:00 UTC