No one likes to think of themself as someone who can be easily fooled. And that’s especially true of Anna Akbari, a sociologist and former New York University professor who met a man who called himself Ethan on the dating site OKCupid in 2010. In There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish, Akbari tells the story of their intense early courtship by piecing together lengthy chats and emails. But Akbari isn’t without doubts, especially after she encounters two other women—like her, both are successful and highly educated—who had similar experiences with Ethan at the same time. Why won’t he meet them in person? Why does he insist on building up each woman only to tear her down? Is he lying about having cancer? Akbari’s memoir reads like a psychological thriller, especially as the women search for Ethan’s real identity. What they discover is genuinely surprising. Technology is an inescapable part of all modern relationships, but There Is No Ethan will make you second guess who you trust.
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