Blank - Why It's Fine to Falter and Fail, and How to Pick Yourself Up Again

by Giles Paley-Phillips, Jim Daly

From Blank the podcast comes Why It's Fine to Falter and Fail, and How to Pick Yourself up Again, which explores many of the themes that crop up on the podcast with the best bits of advice from fantastic guests.

Everyone has those difficult blank moments sometimes.

Whether in your personal life, career or relationship or in a public situation, writer's block, social anxiety, imposter syndrome, being off-form or having an identity crisis can affect anyone at any time. It's part of the human condition, and yet it can throw us off course and make us feel helpless.

Giles Paley-Phillips and Jim Daly host an informal, insightful podcast in which they chat to well-known people from comedy, acting, writing, broadcasting, politics and sports about their careers and how they get through these moments when things aren't going to plan. Some of the recurring themes include public failure, social anxieties, fear, mental health, grief and more. This, their first title, looks at the common experiences and lessons they've encountered while talking to guests such as Louis Theroux, David Harbour, Reginald D. Hunter, Jon Ronson, Dawn French, Rufus Sewell and Gary Lineker.

Blank moments allow us to reset and see things differently. Far from being setbacks, they can be the impetus for clarity and creativity. Identify your blank moments and jump in - you never know what you might find.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

Audible Audio

Published January 27, 2022

Reviews

[SCR · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly I have no idea what this book was trying to achieve. Thankfully it was very short.

I'd never heard of the authors or their podcast, but I have now listened to their life stories... and little else. Podcast guests are mentioned in passing (possibly just for the purpose of name dropping), teasing at the wisdom/information they shared... which I guess wasn't important enough to include in the book? Especially when the author could just talk about how much he loves football instead!

I'm assume this was just a lazy effort to market the podcast, which it didn't do, while discussing failure and how to get over it, which it also didn't do. Saying the word 'failure' after a personal anecdote does not a book about failure make lol. There were various brief mentions of interesting topics, from mindfulness to philosophy, but the authors didn't seem to have more than a basic grasp of any of them.

Their final word/important tip to survive failure? Keep a gratitude journal.

[Nicola Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main thing I loved about this book was the format. Each chapter is centred around a theme, with both authors contributing, including references to guests from the podcast and the authors' own experiences.

I've written so many quotes down for future reference and this book prompted me to really think about how I handle blank moments and what I could do differently.

I feel so reassured that I'm not alone in failing sometimes, that not everyone notices all my mistakes and that difficulties are there to be learned from and to make me a stronger person.

Thank you Giles and Jim.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is based on the podcast of the same name and drew on some of the themes and conversations from the podcast. The authors are the podcast hosts and they shared their personal takes on how those conversations and themes have shaped their lives.

I think the book was a good idea, but I wasn't convinced by the delivery. I'm not sure the authors' lives and thoughts were in themselves enough to 'carry' a book. They did draw on the podcast but often only in passing. Sometimes they explained what particular podcast guests had said, but often only briefly. Sometimes they even referred to things that had been said on the podcast but, presumably deliberately, didn't say who had actually said it. This strange omission, on a few occasions, raised more questions than answers.

The book did achieve two things though. The first was to whet the appetite of the reader to what the podcast has to offer, which is a more indepth discussion with a range of people about when things haven't gone as planned. The second is that it was good to read accounts from two men about mental health, emotion and life's difficulties, which surely can be no bad thing.

[Michael Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
Firstly it's written in such a superfluous way I expected each chapter to end with a recipe for slow cooker soup.
Secondly - it's a book of the podcast which uses things to celebrities have said to reinforce already established concepts. I'm not sure who it's for - those who know the podcast will be covering old ground, and for those-like me - who haven't would probably get more either listening to the podcast or finding more focused writing than someone summarising Gary Lineker's thoughts on imposter syndrome- as much as I admire his record as his generations finest goalscorer.
Thirdly Since soup season seems to be in full swing, I thought it would be apropos to kick the week off with one of my favorite recipes that just so happens to be meatless, vegan, gluten-free, and super-easy to make...

[Tamsyn Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy reading book that touches on pertinent topics for all navigating life today. It contains insights from both authors along with anecdotes from multiple celebrities, creatives and politicians among others, all mostly centered around this concept of “blank”, what that can mean and how to get through it. I also found it refreshing to read a book that touches on mental health, grief, parenting and social anxiety from the perspective of two men. Overall, it’s a book that falls into a self-help category that won’t tire your brain out or leave you with a long list of “to-do’s to be better”. Rather it will have you asking yourself some questions and taking stock of where you might be. The next steps and additional resources were a helpful touch.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and listened to this book after seeing it on display at my local library.

It is book that was written by Giles Paley-Phillips and Jim Daly in conjunction with their podcast Blank. It covers some very interesting subjects such as Sleep and Switching Off with some helpful tips on steps that you can take around periods of blankness in your life, regardless of if you are a comedian, author or an office administrator!

Some of the chapters really "spoke" to me, especially around Social Media and Social Anxiety and I appreciated the fact that Giles and Jim are the narrators of the audiobook.

I think that I now need to listen to one of their podcast episodes to get a more rounded understanding of Blankness.

I give this book 4 stars.

[Colette Coen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that explores how to cope when things don't go exactly to plan and everything in life seems to be blank. Based on a podcast with the same name it offers a broad brush on a range of topics and highlights the successful people who shared their stories on the podcast. It is reassuring that even people who are seen to have 'made it' can still be crippled with self-doubt.
This is a quick read but I found the stories very relatable and will seek out the podcast.
This is a book that I will pass round as I think we could all do with reassurance that even when things go blank, there is a way through.

[Charlotte Cake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Limited life experience to be able to relate and didn’t like the tone but very interesting tips

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5]