Scan barcode
A review by lifewithmisskate
Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers by Helena Dea Bala
4.0
Author Helene was living in D.C. working as a lobbyist when craving meaningful human interactions she puts an add on Craigslist offering to be a listening to ear to whomever needed to talk and feel listened to.
For the next five years Helene meets with strangers from all walks of life collecting their life confessions, stories that they have rarely voiced even to loved ones. It is a collection of 40 of these stories that make up Craigslist Confessional, under the headers Love, Loss, Regret, Identity, and Family; stories of immigration, racism, sexism, molestation, physical and mental abuse, drug use, suicide, eating disorders, rape, failed marriages, sex addiction, cheating, fortunes lost, sickness, untimely deaths, and the occasional stories of hope
.
The book is marketed towards “fans of Humans of New York and Postsecret”, which in a way it is; Craigslist Confessional Is made up of 40 essays written in the voice of their teller, giving glimpses into the greatest heartbreaks of their lives.The essays are beautifully crafted, and the reader gets the true sense of the differences in the tellers stories and lives from one another.
However, Craigslist Confessional differs from Humans of New York and Postsecret, in that the confessions found here are deeper and darker, than the more humanizing journalistic approach (Real Humans of New York) or more gossipy (Postsecret) reads.
If you're drawn to this book by the cover, put this book down; this is not the light hearted fun summer read of strangers confessions that you want it to be. The proposed cover of Craigslist Confessional, although catchy and utter perfection for bookshelves displaying summer reads, is not at all an accurate representation of the depth of the read awaiting you under the cover. I expect many people will be disappointed by the book, not by the quality of content, which is excellent, but by the false advertising of the cover art.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of Craigslist Confessional in exchange for my honest review.
Edit: The updated cover is a much more accurate visual representation of the stories inside. Well done. Well done.
For the next five years Helene meets with strangers from all walks of life collecting their life confessions, stories that they have rarely voiced even to loved ones. It is a collection of 40 of these stories that make up Craigslist Confessional, under the headers Love, Loss, Regret, Identity, and Family; stories of immigration, racism, sexism, molestation, physical and mental abuse, drug use, suicide, eating disorders, rape, failed marriages, sex addiction, cheating, fortunes lost, sickness, untimely deaths, and the occasional stories of hope
.
The book is marketed towards “fans of Humans of New York and Postsecret”, which in a way it is; Craigslist Confessional Is made up of 40 essays written in the voice of their teller, giving glimpses into the greatest heartbreaks of their lives.The essays are beautifully crafted, and the reader gets the true sense of the differences in the tellers stories and lives from one another.
However, Craigslist Confessional differs from Humans of New York and Postsecret, in that the confessions found here are deeper and darker, than the more humanizing journalistic approach (Real Humans of New York) or more gossipy (Postsecret) reads.
If you're drawn to this book by the cover, put this book down; this is not the light hearted fun summer read of strangers confessions that you want it to be. The proposed cover of Craigslist Confessional, although catchy and utter perfection for bookshelves displaying summer reads, is not at all an accurate representation of the depth of the read awaiting you under the cover. I expect many people will be disappointed by the book, not by the quality of content, which is excellent, but by the false advertising of the cover art.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of Craigslist Confessional in exchange for my honest review.
Edit: The updated cover is a much more accurate visual representation of the stories inside. Well done. Well done.