What do you think?
Rate this book
Be Brief and Tell Them Everything
A darkly funny meditation on creativity and family, Be Brief and Tell Them Everything tracks the life of a middle-aged author who is struggling to write his next novel while trying to come to grips with his son’s disabilities, set against a backdrop of ecological catastrophe and escalating human insanity in contemporary Los Angeles. A beautiful, powerful, concise work of autofiction that is reminiscent of My Struggle and Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Be Brief documents the stops and starts of adulthood and marriage, and the joys and challenges of parenting, while defining what it means to be a good man, and a good writer.
216 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2022
21 people are currently reading
594 people want to read
About the author
Brad Listi
8 books81 followersBrad Listi is the author of the novel Be Brief and Tell Them Everything (Ig Publishing / May 2022). His other books include the novel Attention. Deficit. Disorder., an LA Times bestseller, and Board, a work of nonfiction collage, co-authored with Justin Benton. He is the founding editor of The Nervous Breakdown, an online literary magazine, and in 2011 he launched the Otherppl podcast, which features in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. He lives in Los Angeles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
May 11, 2022
3.5
The May selection of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club is a novel but reads like memoir. Autofiction is the term, but that always makes me think of automatic writing, and writing like this is as shaped and crafted as any work of art. I’d call it fictionalized memoir, though that term would be fraught with problems.
Listi uses his own name for his first-person narrator (though not the real names of his wife and children). The telling is “meta” due to its relating of the writing process of this book. It's at its best, and most affecting, in the passages about his son, born with severe health issues.
Listi’s clear-eyed look at how it feels to parent a disabled child, and how he’s trying to feel about it, brought tears to my eyes. (The epigraph from Thomas Merton, however, made me laugh until tears came to my eyes and is indicative of Listi's dark humor, another thing I appreciate.)
The May selection of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club is a novel but reads like memoir. Autofiction is the term, but that always makes me think of automatic writing, and writing like this is as shaped and crafted as any work of art. I’d call it fictionalized memoir, though that term would be fraught with problems.
Listi uses his own name for his first-person narrator (though not the real names of his wife and children). The telling is “meta” due to its relating of the writing process of this book. It's at its best, and most affecting, in the passages about his son, born with severe health issues.
Listi’s clear-eyed look at how it feels to parent a disabled child, and how he’s trying to feel about it, brought tears to my eyes. (The epigraph from Thomas Merton, however, made me laugh until tears came to my eyes and is indicative of Listi's dark humor, another thing I appreciate.)
May 11, 2022
This, I like to tell myself, was when everything suddenly shifted, when the creeping dread that had been plaguing me for weeks finally brought me to the point of overwhelm, just as the diagnostic process reached its miserable crescendo. I have also sometimes told myself over the years that this was the precise moment when my excessively long childhood reached its conclusion, the brief hard flash in time when at long last I finished growing up and instead just started aging.
September 23, 2025
I never know exactly how to judge autofiction. Is it more successful if it rings so true that I have to remind myself it is actually true-ish or does that make it less successful? Does the reason for choosing to write autofiction matter? When I am reading Jo Ann Beard, for instance, it always feels like the fictional elements are like a fake beauty mark or a dot of red on a black and white canvas. there to heighten the truth, to train the eye to fall where the artist wants it to fall. Alexander Chee seems like he brings in fiction to add light he did not experience while in darkness. Ocean Vuong I think, uses fictional elements to shape events to better tell the story of his interior life. Claire Vaye Watkins I suspect, adds fictional elements to amplify her justifications for self-loathing. Of course, I could be wrong about all of this, but that is what my mind does when it comes up against autofiction, it tries to explain it. Why is this not a memoir? Why is this not a novel with elements of the author's life contained therein (as is true of most great novels/authors.)
Weirdly, in Be Brief and Tell Them Everything, my mind did not do that at all. I think I started out reading it as memoir, got slightly jolted out of that (not sure what the trigger was), and got to wondering for a few minutes. And then, miraculously, I just did not care what was truth and what was fiction. This is just a beautiful book about life, its mundanity, ugliness, sadness, disappointments, surprises, and beauty. I guess it is really about love, of family, friends, place, because, and not in spite of, their imperfections. And if those sentences worry you (as they would me), I assure you this book is not remotely sentimental or smug or preachy or self-helpy. Listi, like many of us, has faced heartbreak and wrestled with the fact that despite our best efforts, life does not proceed as expected. And Listi, like most of us, feels confusion, guilt, and despair over this life. He works toward gratefulness and equanimity, and he finds moments of both with the help of his family and friends. Near the end of the book he is talking to his daughter about God (like me, Listi is a person who may not believe in scripture, but who has experienced many things that are inexplicable without acknowledgment of a divine.) He tells his daughter (she is 5 I believe) that God is in everything. Like every child that age she starts listing things, and like every child that age, eventually she asks if God is in poop. Listi answers in the affirmative. She asks why God is in something so smelly, and he says that without smelly things, flowers can't grow. That moment, as much as any, is the point of this book. Find beauty in the broken (or smelly), be grateful for every drop of love that surrounds you, experience all you can of the world, take care of your people, and accept that we who actually think about anything are still sad and confused a lot of the time, but that does not diminish the wonder of life.
I struggle with how hallmark-y this review sounds, which is a grave disservice to the book. There is absolutely nothing trite about the book. It is absorbing and brutally honest. It made me think, it made me fall in love with this family, and it even made me see things about LA that charmed me, and I really do not like LA. A great book if you want to explore life's big questions brought down to earth. Struggled with the star rating here, and this might move to a 5, but I think a 4 for now.
Weirdly, in Be Brief and Tell Them Everything, my mind did not do that at all. I think I started out reading it as memoir, got slightly jolted out of that (not sure what the trigger was), and got to wondering for a few minutes. And then, miraculously, I just did not care what was truth and what was fiction. This is just a beautiful book about life, its mundanity, ugliness, sadness, disappointments, surprises, and beauty. I guess it is really about love, of family, friends, place, because, and not in spite of, their imperfections. And if those sentences worry you (as they would me), I assure you this book is not remotely sentimental or smug or preachy or self-helpy. Listi, like many of us, has faced heartbreak and wrestled with the fact that despite our best efforts, life does not proceed as expected. And Listi, like most of us, feels confusion, guilt, and despair over this life. He works toward gratefulness and equanimity, and he finds moments of both with the help of his family and friends. Near the end of the book he is talking to his daughter about God (like me, Listi is a person who may not believe in scripture, but who has experienced many things that are inexplicable without acknowledgment of a divine.) He tells his daughter (she is 5 I believe) that God is in everything. Like every child that age she starts listing things, and like every child that age, eventually she asks if God is in poop. Listi answers in the affirmative. She asks why God is in something so smelly, and he says that without smelly things, flowers can't grow. That moment, as much as any, is the point of this book. Find beauty in the broken (or smelly), be grateful for every drop of love that surrounds you, experience all you can of the world, take care of your people, and accept that we who actually think about anything are still sad and confused a lot of the time, but that does not diminish the wonder of life.
I struggle with how hallmark-y this review sounds, which is a grave disservice to the book. There is absolutely nothing trite about the book. It is absorbing and brutally honest. It made me think, it made me fall in love with this family, and it even made me see things about LA that charmed me, and I really do not like LA. A great book if you want to explore life's big questions brought down to earth. Struggled with the star rating here, and this might move to a 5, but I think a 4 for now.
January 4, 2022
Wow, this book. The reason I was able to finish this book so quickly was because it was so good. It was honest, vulnerable, witty, charming, sometimes depressing (in a raw, vulnerable way), and relatable. I enjoy reading books with introverted protagonists because they’re thoughtful characters. Brad the character shares his growth, his honest feelings, his striving, and offers some advice and lessons the reader will hopefully learn from. As a writer, I enjoyed the complaints and waves Brad the character went through as he attempts to write his second novel — a feat I can relate to!
This book unravels the inner tumult we face when we experience tragedy — an inevitable part of life, which this book keeps reminding its readers. And yes, I cried! I won’t spoil it for you, but I did cry as the characters experienced grief.
I will cherish this book and keep it as a re-read option. I would even call it a beach read, it’s brief yet says everything.
Thank you Ig Publishing and Otherppl Podcast for my galley. The cover is stunning!
This book unravels the inner tumult we face when we experience tragedy — an inevitable part of life, which this book keeps reminding its readers. And yes, I cried! I won’t spoil it for you, but I did cry as the characters experienced grief.
I will cherish this book and keep it as a re-read option. I would even call it a beach read, it’s brief yet says everything.
Thank you Ig Publishing and Otherppl Podcast for my galley. The cover is stunning!
May 2, 2022
Brad Listi, host of the Otherppl Podcast, has published his second novel. Having listened to him for almost 11 years talking to other authors, I recognized his voice in his writing from the very first page. I know, from his opening monologues, how long he has worked on the novel, how he struggled to sell any of its many iterations, how he refused to give up. He gave his listeners the continual blow-by-blow, including his experience of all the steps from sale of manuscript to publication. Just like he interrogates his guests about such matters.
After all that buildup, I was slightly concerned. What if I didn't like my favorite podcasters' novel? I loved it!
Brad List calls it auto-fiction. Alexander Chee would call it an autobiographical novel. These two authors and many more, have proven that one can turn one's life story into fiction. One can make one's struggles, the characters of one's life, even the triumphs and tragedies, into an affecting story. All the elements of nearly half a life plus a dive into one man's own values, confusions and spiritual concerns, are well rendered in Be Brief and Tell Them Everything.
Somehow, I am sure with much gnashing of teeth and several flights of fancy, Brad List tells a funny yet sobering story of life as a creative in our crazy world.
After all that buildup, I was slightly concerned. What if I didn't like my favorite podcasters' novel? I loved it!
Brad List calls it auto-fiction. Alexander Chee would call it an autobiographical novel. These two authors and many more, have proven that one can turn one's life story into fiction. One can make one's struggles, the characters of one's life, even the triumphs and tragedies, into an affecting story. All the elements of nearly half a life plus a dive into one man's own values, confusions and spiritual concerns, are well rendered in Be Brief and Tell Them Everything.
Somehow, I am sure with much gnashing of teeth and several flights of fancy, Brad List tells a funny yet sobering story of life as a creative in our crazy world.
Read
August 20, 2023So, just a bit ago, I FINALLY read Listi's first book: ATTENTION. DEFICIT. DISORDER. It felt mildly like it was a literary skeleton, because Listi had me on his podcast in 2012--and I only just read his book. Basically, I thought that book was Gen X Jack Kerouac, and I got a bit sad with the Burning Man end--but it was a pleasure to read and I knew I'd read his new book.
I did. Brad Listi now writes of middle-aged Gen X. Seriously, good old Douglas Coupland named us but Listi captured us. Still a pleasure to read. Like I will read what he writes next. I felt, at the end, however, the failures of a generation. I did. Kinda philosophically empty. We pray to a pointless God. We keep on truckin' and we take care of our kids and some of us are good writers.
Still a good read.
There was a scene in which Listi describes a psychedelic trip on mushrooms--it felt about as intriguing as hearing your spouse tell every detail of the crazy dream he had. Do I include this on my goodreads review, knowing this guy was only kind to me?
He's still a great writer.
The very last line of this book was excellent.
I did. Brad Listi now writes of middle-aged Gen X. Seriously, good old Douglas Coupland named us but Listi captured us. Still a pleasure to read. Like I will read what he writes next. I felt, at the end, however, the failures of a generation. I did. Kinda philosophically empty. We pray to a pointless God. We keep on truckin' and we take care of our kids and some of us are good writers.
Still a good read.
There was a scene in which Listi describes a psychedelic trip on mushrooms--it felt about as intriguing as hearing your spouse tell every detail of the crazy dream he had. Do I include this on my goodreads review, knowing this guy was only kind to me?
He's still a great writer.
The very last line of this book was excellent.
April 28, 2022
Honest and helpful. Four or five LOLs. Affirming. A wonderful life prompt. Glad Brad hung in there and told his/this story.
June 2, 2022
This book reminded me of my favorite moments from MY STRUGGLE by Karl Ove Knausgaard, distilled. I’m sad that it took Listi a dozen years to write it, because I wish there were more books of his to read. Hopefully the next one comes quicker. It’s an absolute delight.
The raw moments of pain at the still birth of a child he explores, the doubts about his parenting style, about his writing. Every detail is so finely explored it feels like it is you living the story.
As someone who has explored psychedelics, I especially loved the deep exploration of psilocybin near the book's end.
The raw moments of pain at the still birth of a child he explores, the doubts about his parenting style, about his writing. Every detail is so finely explored it feels like it is you living the story.
As someone who has explored psychedelics, I especially loved the deep exploration of psilocybin near the book's end.
July 4, 2022
If you were to believe the reviews of this book, you'd think "Be Brief and Tell them Everything" is one of the year's best paperbacks, but it's crucial to note that the author, Brad Listi, has built an ecosystem around promoting authors through his online magazine and interview podcast. For a sense of how positively skewed some of the responses are, listen to an episode of his very own show in which Listi gives up his host chair to author Steve Almond so Listi himself could be interviewed. The resulting hour and a half is the most brazen audio fellatio I've ever heard, as Almond reads long passages like it's the Torah, but back to the book:
"Be Brief and Tell Them Everything" centers on a guy who is basically Listi, who has experienced a life that's basically Listi's. Most of its 220 pages is a greatest hits of first-world tragedies (social media addiction, Catholic guilt, artistic dry spells), but only one tragedy (his disabled son) feels true enough to be affecting. As an entire literary work, however, the book tells us "everything" without saying much of "anything." Listi writes in the vein of darling autofiction writers like Tao Lin and Sheila Heti, but unlike the former's crystalline versions of 2010s life, or the latter's (forgive me) heady need for answers to deep questions, Listi just kind of sardonically throws a bunch of life events at us, hoping some of it sticks, and if it doesn't, well that too, the argument goes, is life.
Stylistically, Listi is listless: each paragraph starts with a dry statement of fact, about Los Angeles or his love story or whatever, and steadily decrescendos to some Gen-X plainspoken platitude. To his credit, his language is usually concise and exacting which can sometimes result in some beautiful lines (a police chopper's "taillight blinking in cardiac rhythm"), but more often than not it feels over-engineered and tiring.
The obvious choice for this book would've been to release it as a series of essays -- a missed opportunity that should lead Listi to fire his editor. But if he insisted on sticking with the novel form, then he should've centered the work largely around his son, and spare us long passages on the virtues of 'shrooms or the pointlessness of creative pilgrimages. Listi would say that those passages belong there because as an author he is articulating confusion; unfortunately, as a reader, I've articulated my boredom.
Recommendation: Skip
"Be Brief and Tell Them Everything" centers on a guy who is basically Listi, who has experienced a life that's basically Listi's. Most of its 220 pages is a greatest hits of first-world tragedies (social media addiction, Catholic guilt, artistic dry spells), but only one tragedy (his disabled son) feels true enough to be affecting. As an entire literary work, however, the book tells us "everything" without saying much of "anything." Listi writes in the vein of darling autofiction writers like Tao Lin and Sheila Heti, but unlike the former's crystalline versions of 2010s life, or the latter's (forgive me) heady need for answers to deep questions, Listi just kind of sardonically throws a bunch of life events at us, hoping some of it sticks, and if it doesn't, well that too, the argument goes, is life.
Stylistically, Listi is listless: each paragraph starts with a dry statement of fact, about Los Angeles or his love story or whatever, and steadily decrescendos to some Gen-X plainspoken platitude. To his credit, his language is usually concise and exacting which can sometimes result in some beautiful lines (a police chopper's "taillight blinking in cardiac rhythm"), but more often than not it feels over-engineered and tiring.
The obvious choice for this book would've been to release it as a series of essays -- a missed opportunity that should lead Listi to fire his editor. But if he insisted on sticking with the novel form, then he should've centered the work largely around his son, and spare us long passages on the virtues of 'shrooms or the pointlessness of creative pilgrimages. Listi would say that those passages belong there because as an author he is articulating confusion; unfortunately, as a reader, I've articulated my boredom.
Recommendation: Skip
May 13, 2022
I had very mixed feelings while listening to this book, which I listened to thanks to NetGalley, and I have resisted the urge to look up the author and try to use his biographical info to help crystalize my reactions. Much of the earlier sections called forth an "Oh for God's sake, quit the navel gazing and go work for a living like the rest of us." Then I got a bit annoyed with his lamentations concerning his son's medical conditions. Yes, I understand as much as an outsider can, how devastating it must be to learn of probable life-long limitations for your child, but both the author's son and daughter remain mostly caricatures throughout the book, and I can't help but feel he missed the opportunity to better share their individual natures with us. And while he talked about assuming the role of primary care giver after the birth of both his kids due to his wife's struggles with postpartum depression, I nevertheless felt enormous sympathy for her as he describes his year-in and year-out dedication to finding ways to share his navel gazing with the world. Case in point: he describes at length an eye-opening psilocybin mushroom trip, but I couldn't help but sympathize with the poor dog who was left crated throughout, then dragged on miles-long hikes throughout the coming-down process, while wifey was sent off with the kids to give the wisdom-seeking ponderer peace and quiet. The book wasn't all that brief, and it certainly told me more than I wanted to know about some things but far less about meaningful lessons the author could have gleaned through interactions with actual human beings.
July 24, 2023
Got this is my second audiobook ever and loved hearing the words straight from the author himself. I’m not sure if I’d call this a memoir or essays or… maybe something else entirely? But it felt really poignant at this moment in my life, which is why I gave it 5 stars.
I immediately felt a click when he talked about advice from a friend that said shame makes for the best writing. It felt like talking to a close friend, how he talked earnestly about what he /actually/ felt around his son’s disability and what he /wanted/ to feel. It seems like nearly every book about this topic has a familiar formula of hope > sadness/mourning > reckoning > triumph & peace. And that always felt a little too neat to me.
If I ever do have kids, I absolutely plan to come back to this book (if I don’t before then) because it gives language to so many thoughts that everyone has but feels they shouldn’t. I think I found this book at the right time and I’m glad i got to hear it straight from the author. Really excellent audiobook!
I immediately felt a click when he talked about advice from a friend that said shame makes for the best writing. It felt like talking to a close friend, how he talked earnestly about what he /actually/ felt around his son’s disability and what he /wanted/ to feel. It seems like nearly every book about this topic has a familiar formula of hope > sadness/mourning > reckoning > triumph & peace. And that always felt a little too neat to me.
If I ever do have kids, I absolutely plan to come back to this book (if I don’t before then) because it gives language to so many thoughts that everyone has but feels they shouldn’t. I think I found this book at the right time and I’m glad i got to hear it straight from the author. Really excellent audiobook!
October 20, 2022
Asking the Profound Questions
I highlighted what felt like half this book. Brad Listi addresses nothing less than “what does it all mean?” in the context of deep, personal losses. Others have described what this book is about. What makes this book so good is the quality of the prose, same for the storytelling, and same for the openness of Listi’s self-searching. Also, listen to his Otherppl podcast.
I highlighted what felt like half this book. Brad Listi addresses nothing less than “what does it all mean?” in the context of deep, personal losses. Others have described what this book is about. What makes this book so good is the quality of the prose, same for the storytelling, and same for the openness of Listi’s self-searching. Also, listen to his Otherppl podcast.
May 20, 2022
A sweet, thorough, and disarming meditation on grief. The subject matter can be grueling, but Listi is never sentimental – he focuses on articulating his pain as plainly and honestly as possible. The book is perfect on its own terms – my only complaint is that the author never takes us anywhere unexpected. But the journey is still well worth your time.
May 7, 2022
Very honest, very raw - but still made me laugh. While I don't think this one will stay with me for a long time, I definitely enjoyed reading it and would recommend most everyone give it a go!
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 4, 2022
Brad Listi’s book is like sitting down with a friend over a long, responsibility-free weekend, and talking about all of the things running through our heads, that we never have time for—including our feelings and experiences related to those hectic, day to day lives. Really grateful for this book.
July 15, 2022
The first quarter of this seems especially honed, often with surprisingly lyrical fragmentary bursts, and achieves the liftoff necessary to propel the rest's direct conveyance of the indie-lit podcaster's life.
November 10, 2022
I love Brad.
November 8, 2022
So heartbreaking and so funny. Brad Listi’s writing (and his podcast) are beautiful and deeply relatable.
October 13, 2022
big fan
February 8, 2024
Be Brief and Tell Them Everything by Brad Listi is a novel of autofiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “A darkly funny meditation on creativity and family, Be Brief and Tell Them Everything tracks the life of a middle-aged author who is struggling to write his next novel while trying to come to grips with his son's disabilities, set against a backdrop of ecological catastrophe and escalating human insanity in contemporary Los Angeles. A beautiful, powerful, concise work of autofiction that is reminiscent of My Struggle and Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Be Brief documents the stops and starts of adulthood and marriage, and the joys and challenges of parenting, while defining what it means to be a good man, and a good writer.”
The fictional Brad in this novel is very similar to real-life Brad Listi. They both are married with children and live in Los Angeles and host a podcast about a writer talking to other writers. It’s difficult to tell from listening to Brad on his podcast and reading Brad’s thoughts in his novel where—or if—the two “Brads” diverge. Certainly, they’re the same person, right? That’s the conundrum, but what a fun one to read and explore.
Autofiction is a flavor of fictionalized autobiography, heightening the question of what is real and what is embellished. In television, think of Seinfeld. In movies, think Almost Famous. In other recent literature, think of The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney. In most cases, there’s a modification of real-life events or the invention of subplots or tangents that help in the search for the self—the examination of the author’s “character.” The embellishing in this book procures comedic gold. Be Brief is observationally funny as Brad picks apart the positive and negative aspects of the city of Los Angeles, the lunacy of the endless failures and iterations of writing books, the foibles of parenting by people who have barely figured out their own lives, along with the untimely deaths of his loved ones and the guilt from being raised Catholic.
Brad also revisits the trouble he and his wife had conceiving their second child, only to discover once they did conceive was that their son would be diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, a crushing diagnosis for the author. But from that comes a realization of the order of things once they’ve occurred, things more valuable than he once thought, something like destiny, a funny realization when juxtaposed with Brad’s antagonistic views towards organized religion.
A section about procuring psilocybin mushrooms and the retelling of his psychedelic vision threatens to derail this thought-provoking, funny, and tender book. Brad graciously concludes the story of his life so far by recounting the many times he’s found himself praying next to his children’s beds, not necessarily praying to God, but to cosmic forces unknown, hoping for some grace and a reprieve from the bullshit that life often throws his way.
I really enjoyed this book of stories and I highly recommend it. I would give this book four and a half stars.
The fictional Brad in this novel is very similar to real-life Brad Listi. They both are married with children and live in Los Angeles and host a podcast about a writer talking to other writers. It’s difficult to tell from listening to Brad on his podcast and reading Brad’s thoughts in his novel where—or if—the two “Brads” diverge. Certainly, they’re the same person, right? That’s the conundrum, but what a fun one to read and explore.
Autofiction is a flavor of fictionalized autobiography, heightening the question of what is real and what is embellished. In television, think of Seinfeld. In movies, think Almost Famous. In other recent literature, think of The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney. In most cases, there’s a modification of real-life events or the invention of subplots or tangents that help in the search for the self—the examination of the author’s “character.” The embellishing in this book procures comedic gold. Be Brief is observationally funny as Brad picks apart the positive and negative aspects of the city of Los Angeles, the lunacy of the endless failures and iterations of writing books, the foibles of parenting by people who have barely figured out their own lives, along with the untimely deaths of his loved ones and the guilt from being raised Catholic.
Brad also revisits the trouble he and his wife had conceiving their second child, only to discover once they did conceive was that their son would be diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, a crushing diagnosis for the author. But from that comes a realization of the order of things once they’ve occurred, things more valuable than he once thought, something like destiny, a funny realization when juxtaposed with Brad’s antagonistic views towards organized religion.
A section about procuring psilocybin mushrooms and the retelling of his psychedelic vision threatens to derail this thought-provoking, funny, and tender book. Brad graciously concludes the story of his life so far by recounting the many times he’s found himself praying next to his children’s beds, not necessarily praying to God, but to cosmic forces unknown, hoping for some grace and a reprieve from the bullshit that life often throws his way.
I really enjoyed this book of stories and I highly recommend it. I would give this book four and a half stars.
May 8, 2022
I loved a lot about this book. but I think what I loved most was watching someone disentangle things that I think most modern people worry about. things that don't always show up in fiction. a lot of the time—to me— contemporary fiction can feel like it is protected from modern woes. even autofiction can feel this way to me. and what I love about this novel is that it felt like the opposite was true. it felt totally awash in the stupid, ugly parts of life as well as the more existential, eternal human struggles every person, every father, every man will deal with. where to live? what does it mean to be happy? how do I deal with tragedy? why is everything around me so shallow and stupid? and of course, the more literary questions; how do I talk about all of this? I don't know. Brad listi doesn't seem to either. but he doesn't claim to. he says that in the book. and I sure did love the way he talked about not knowing. it felt good to see somebody else think about all that stuff and to try to figure it out and to talk about trying to figure it out. the book genuinely made me get teary eyed. and laugh. I don't have visceral reactions like that when I read, at least not very often. so there's that too. I'm glad Brad finished writing this.
November 12, 2024
I recently listened to this book on audio in the throes of postpartum, during middle of the night wake-ups, and it was a salve. I have attention issues and usually cannot focus on audio books, but Brad does a good job narrating. I enjoy his point of view very much. He makes me feel less alone in the world.
June 29, 2022
Sort of weird. Definitely brief, but felt comprehensive. Thoughtful and thought provoking. Perfectly paced in that it had a very slow and deliberate style, but covered a vast span of time. Really enjoyed this book.
August 18, 2023
Have to think on this but I did read it all in one day, which I've probably not done with a book in a decade.
May 28, 2022
REVIEW: #bebriefandtellthemeverything is a little wandering meditation on life and mortality. It’s fairly anti-narrative, but then there is a story and there are characters. So while the first third did very little for me - there’s a sweet middle section that I devoured like a ripe peach. For fans of Joan Didion, or Maggie Nelson, probably. Or maybe this is the Matt Haig for people who aren’t total morons. A weird little philosophical thing; my copy full of dog-ears and underlines. And so many beautiful thoughts and passages like the one posted below. I give BE BRIEF 4.5/5 because it charmed and warmed me.
#bradlisti #joandidion #philosophy
…
📖 “So yes, the sadness is there, monolithic, immovable, deserving of some recognition. And it will continue to be there, existing right alongside the joy for as long as we live. But to document its presence in meticulous fashion would be like talking about the ocean all the time, rubbing colour commentary as the waves roll in, one after the other.”
#bradlisti #joandidion #philosophy
…
📖 “So yes, the sadness is there, monolithic, immovable, deserving of some recognition. And it will continue to be there, existing right alongside the joy for as long as we live. But to document its presence in meticulous fashion would be like talking about the ocean all the time, rubbing colour commentary as the waves roll in, one after the other.”
January 26, 2024
I've listened to Brad's excellent podcast (really the WTF of the literary world interview series out there) but I knew nothing about him, including that he wrote a book.
I read and listened to the audiobook, which I which I had listened to more of in my reading of this. He's excellent, obviously, as a reader.
It's loose, stream of consciousness, almost tumblr-like posting on his life and personal history. What it really turns into is a parent's musings on grief, grieving the process of many difficult pregnancies and then the outcomes of one of the supposedly successful ones resulting in a disabled child.
And that's what takes over the 'narrative' and it's incredibly personal and sad as a result. The climax deals with a mushroom trip that gets weird then real then hopeful? I'm still not sure how to feel about this book - but it's a real experience that I wouldn't say is for everyone yet I'm glad I read it.
My only structural gripe is that there's no chapter headings so I had a harder time matching the lack-of-chapters in the ebook with the chapters in the audiobook.
I read and listened to the audiobook, which I which I had listened to more of in my reading of this. He's excellent, obviously, as a reader.
It's loose, stream of consciousness, almost tumblr-like posting on his life and personal history. What it really turns into is a parent's musings on grief, grieving the process of many difficult pregnancies and then the outcomes of one of the supposedly successful ones resulting in a disabled child.
And that's what takes over the 'narrative' and it's incredibly personal and sad as a result. The climax deals with a mushroom trip that gets weird then real then hopeful? I'm still not sure how to feel about this book - but it's a real experience that I wouldn't say is for everyone yet I'm glad I read it.
My only structural gripe is that there's no chapter headings so I had a harder time matching the lack-of-chapters in the ebook with the chapters in the audiobook.
May 24, 2022
An avid listener of Brad's Otherppl podcast, I listened to Brad read this book on Audible. It was a voyeuristic dive into his life, which he is already open about, but to see the struggle with miscarriages and his son's health added a new layer of intimacy. Unlike the podcast, Brad was able to share, through his fictional narrator "Brad," more poignant, crafted, and articulate thoughts on the meaning of life and death and suffering and beauty.
He says this is a work of auto fiction that draws attention to its own making. In conjunction with the podcast and years of listening, this isn't just a book but an experience. A life experience we are all moving through together with Brad. There's nothing else like it.
He says this is a work of auto fiction that draws attention to its own making. In conjunction with the podcast and years of listening, this isn't just a book but an experience. A life experience we are all moving through together with Brad. There's nothing else like it.
June 12, 2022
Being a long time Otherppl podcast listener it's hard to read this and not be biased. But to be honest, even without the bias, I think this book is a well written and rounded one. It's one of those books that has rekindled my own writing fire and throughout reading it I found myself putting pen to paper more often than I have been doing in the past few months. Brad has written a book that works well alongside his podcast in presenting the human condition. An affecting read. If I'd had the time I would have read it in one sitting, ended up being three or four. But the writing flows and I just wanted to keep on going.
July 10, 2023
I found this quite moving, even arresting. The language is, to my experience, direct and fearless. It resists making some grandiose interpretive gesture, in the most refreshing way. I found myself many pages in without even realizing it, deep in a state of reflective reverie. An "around the campfire, what does it all mean?" place. The best of that curious posture, the way it binds you to other people and feels true, like the most important thing. The experience was beautiful and raw and true to the way I see human matters, and what sense books can make of them.
June 8, 2022
Such a good read! I picked this up at the local public library because the title made me curious. Within ten pages, I was wrapped up, enthralled, laughing and crying.
Highly recommended for people with children.
Highly recommended for people whose lives are imperfect.
Highly recommended for writers.
Get this book and give it a read.
Highly recommended for people with children.
Highly recommended for people whose lives are imperfect.
Highly recommended for writers.
Get this book and give it a read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews