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A review by horrorghoul
Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers by Helena Dea Bala
3.0
TW: Drugs, sex workers, child sexual abuse, cheating, rape, torture, abortion, family drama, child death, miscarriages, suicide,
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: It started with a single personal ad on Craigslist: tell me about yourself. Dea Bala never expected the outpouring of responses that would follow. She was working as a lobbyist when the idea was born: she'd chat up respondents on the phone or at a coffee shop and let them tell her about their lives. Dea Bala soon had to quit her day job to make time for all of the Craigslist sessions. She took notes during each conversation and journaled about the emotional experience to expertly inhabit the voice of each subject. What emerges is a collection of narratives, all in first person, of anonymous people revealing their deepest, darkest secrets; or at least the most poignant moments of their lives. Infidelity, addiction, loss, corruption, the search for unconditional love—reading these carefully, empathetically crafted monologues reveals how suffering is something we all have in common. Each tragedy or triumph is unique, but the intensity of feeling is not.
Release Date: July 7th, 2020
Genre: Documentary
Pages: 256
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
• Some of the stories are heartbreaking
• It's a great idea
What I Didn't Like:
• The chapters never felt like they matched the sections they were put in.
• The stories kept of felt dull once you’ve read a 20+ stories
Overall Thoughts: This book is such a great idea. I love that there was such a mix up of stories. Some of the stories were so depressing and just ripped your heart apart. Some stories made you hate humans and not understand how they can exist. For me some parts felt flat and just kept going on and on and you kind of lose the stories after all the other stories.
IG|Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: It started with a single personal ad on Craigslist: tell me about yourself. Dea Bala never expected the outpouring of responses that would follow. She was working as a lobbyist when the idea was born: she'd chat up respondents on the phone or at a coffee shop and let them tell her about their lives. Dea Bala soon had to quit her day job to make time for all of the Craigslist sessions. She took notes during each conversation and journaled about the emotional experience to expertly inhabit the voice of each subject. What emerges is a collection of narratives, all in first person, of anonymous people revealing their deepest, darkest secrets; or at least the most poignant moments of their lives. Infidelity, addiction, loss, corruption, the search for unconditional love—reading these carefully, empathetically crafted monologues reveals how suffering is something we all have in common. Each tragedy or triumph is unique, but the intensity of feeling is not.
Release Date: July 7th, 2020
Genre: Documentary
Pages: 256
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
• Some of the stories are heartbreaking
• It's a great idea
What I Didn't Like:
• The chapters never felt like they matched the sections they were put in.
• The stories kept of felt dull once you’ve read a 20+ stories
Overall Thoughts: This book is such a great idea. I love that there was such a mix up of stories. Some of the stories were so depressing and just ripped your heart apart. Some stories made you hate humans and not understand how they can exist. For me some parts felt flat and just kept going on and on and you kind of lose the stories after all the other stories.
IG|Blog