You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton!: Monster Motivations to Move Your Butt and Get You to Do the Thing

by Chuck Wendig, Natalie Metzger (Illustrator)

In the tradition of inspirational pick-me-ups like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Johnny Sun's G'Morning, G'Night but with a Calvin & Hobbesian sensibility comes this whimsically nerdy spin, illustrated by Natalie Metzger, on motivating folks into getting creative and "DOING THE THINGS."

For several years, Chuck has crafted hilarious and inspirational thoughts of the day--they might begin with an optimistic salvo, but inevitably and mirthfully detour into the demon-summoning, robot-making, or confirming that humans are actually mythical hybrid creatures. Equal parts inspiring, sweet, and very funny, Wendig's profane and imaginative galvanizing quips in You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton! are sure to amp up readers and motivate them to get things done.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Self Help, Inspirational, Writing, Adult

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).

He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.

Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.

He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.

Reviews

[Jeannie Leighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world, at least my world - needed this book. Chuck Wendig, in his infinite wacky wisdom, has created a gem of a book.
You might think you'd read one affirmation a day; that was my plan. Next thing I knew, I fell into the magic skeleton and finished this in a few days.

[Vanessa Ricci-Thode · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing a lot of this book as tweets appearing live in my feed. They made me happy then and they make me happy now. And Natalie's illustrations are perfect for this bizarre little book of super weird motivation.

[Jude Morrissey · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXACTLY the kind of daily motivational book I needed in my life! If Wendig and Metzger's book was turned into a planner, my life would be complete and also my workplace would be 10% more fun and probably I would stop forgetting I'm a dragon.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the introduction to this lovely little nugget of a book, based on the downward plunge during when it is written Wendig assumes that that state of the world might continue on that trajectory and "by the time you get this book, it will be raining fire-frogs, we'll all have some kind of 'uncontrollable wasp shitting' disease, and the President of the United States will be gobbling down babies live on television." Now that sounds like extreme exaggeration and things aren't quite that nightmarish, but it's still pretty fucking close!

Anyways, I think this book was intended to be read a day at a time, or when one needed a little motivating boost, but I read the entire fucking thing in one day. Absorbing all of the motivations at once in order to become a super-motivated mutant creature and subsist on my motivation juice in a time released fashion like a hibernating bear or bat or squirrel or something (take your pick of animals that hibernate).

THE MOTIVATION LIVES WITHIN ME!

[Jacquelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, entertaining, and highly motivational book. I can't even tell you how many times I found myself literally laughing out loud at this book. The witty phrases and the fun pictures...this is exactly my kind of motivational book. I had originally borrowed this from my local library but I feel like I need to add this to my permanent collection. I have already shared several of the various quotes found in this book to some of my social media accounts and I can definitely see myself revisiting this whenever I need a smile on my face or a kick in my pants.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

the only self-help/affirmations book i will ever read again. the artwork is also killer.

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just excellent all around. Guaranteed a giggle/snort on every page.
Whimsical and snarky illustrations abound!

[Mira Domsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how weird this book is and I love the illustrations. Over 200 pages of encouragement and strange but cute artwork.

[Chris Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long time fan of Chuck Wendig's fiction and Terribleminds blog - "You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton" is neither yet both.

This book is almost a motivational work for fans of his prose, opinions and sense of the absurd. High quality illustrations add to the quirky charm of this book.

Great for a random "pick me up", delivered in Wendig's unique voice.

[Roy Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The motivations are zany and good. The artwork is spectacular. Got some plans for some of them, but might have to tone down the f-bombs.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy with my past self for having the foresight to know I would need this, and for ordering myself a copy.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fantastic. It appeals to my sense of humor and the state of *waves hands at everything*. There are a couple I might embroider or have made into beautiful calligraphy. Much love, magic skeleton crew!

[Koda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having a few bad days? Weeks? Eons? Pick this book up from wherever you can and just flip through it for a while. You'll feel better. I did and hey, I'm just some formless void on the internet!

[Andy Steigleder · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork is simply incredible!

[Heather Dubarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly amusing collection of affirmations for the weird and off-kilter. Will apparently disgust your christian friends if you share pics of pages that hit you just right.
The illustrations suit the affirmations to a ‘t’.

[Lewis Szymanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

When something goes viral online, sometimes it gets made into a real-world book. These are amusing motivational tweets by Chuck Wendig with accompanying artwork by Natalie Metzger.

If you’re looking for a motivational read but aren’t the flowers and rainbows type, this is the book for you. Wendig's newest novel, The Book of Accidents, was a finalist in the horror category in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards. He also writes Star Wars books as well as horror. Wendig uses unusual phrasing and language to make the usual motivational platitudes much more interesting.

Metzgar's art is delightful. Cute and grotesque at the same time. My favorite is the impenetrable stronghold of books, of course.

Some of my favorites.

(20) "YOU ARE A GANGLY CONFLUENCE OF ATOMS AND IDEAS STUMBLING DRUNKENLY TOWARD BOTH ERROR AND ENLIGHTENMENT, EACH OF US A MYSTERY WRAPPED IN A RIDDLE STUFFED IN A HUMAN EPIDERMIS NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK THEY'RE DOING AND THAT'S OK ONWARD, ATOMIC ENIGMA!"

(72) "It's important to recognize that the negative voices in your head are not always your own. They may belong to a critical parent, a bad friend, a toxic partner, an abusive boss, or MALTHORNODOX THE UNREDEEMABLE, the demon you awakened when you opened that puzzle box."

(95) "Everybody has stories to tell, and they're worth telling. Find a way to tell yours. In a book, in a painting, in a photograph, in a howling scream, in a hollowed-out pumpkin, in a vulgar limerick, in a fan-fic manifesto starring Magnum P.I. as a Disney princess, in a litany carved into the back of a most ancient beast."

You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton is a worthwhile way to spend a few afternoons.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The daily motivations and the accompanying illustrations both made me smile and laugh out loud a good handful of times.
The writing pieces have this uniquely manic, fantastical, nonsensical, horrific fun quality. If that sounds like a crazy mishmash it's because it is!
A sense of empathy comes through and it seems like the author really does want to reach us with positivity. The positivity just takes the form of these weird mashups of standard motivational thoughts that then take hard turns into the fantastical, absurd, horrific, or all of the above. The horrific is a fun dark humour kind of horrific. There is a lot of stuff along the lines of how we're all just walking bags of flesh etc, but that's awesome, so we should embrace it.
The illustrations are wonderful. They made me happy to look at. I'm going to check out more of Natalie Metzger's work based on this. They have this great expressive and happy cartoonish quality that suits the written material well.
Overall I thought it was worth the time. I think you would be most able to appreciate it if you like the fantasy and/or horror genres. I liked it a lot and I'm not really into horror stuff but it's got a happy fun quality here.

[Becca Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the tradition of inspirational pick-me-ups like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Johnny Sun's G'Morning, G'Night but with a Calvin & Hobbesian sensibility comes this whimsically nerdy spin, illustrated by Natalie Metzger, on motivating folks into getting creative and "DOING THE THINGS." (from the publisher)

This is the kind of book that you just want to share with people. It would make a great calendar-of-the-day and the illustrations are fabulous. I don't know if it will change your life but it will make it a little brighter. And clearly it is very appealing - because my 9-year-old REALLY wanted me to let him read it - and it is definitely not for 9-year-olds. Or maybe it is - just not mine.

[Steve Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So first I bought this book by total accident because I thought it was an anatomy textbook and I thought that might be interesting but it isn’t so I thought I would give it 1 star in this review. But about 1/3 of the way in I realized that I really could do anything. Based on that revelation, I decided that I’d add a star. Then, a few pages later, I realized that I actually am a magic skeleton. So, I figured that was worth an extra star. Then I decided that the artwork was really cool: so, another star. Finally, I figured the Monday song was worth it’s own star, so screw it. Five stars.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might have enjoyed this book a bit more if I had absorbed it over a longer period, rather than reading it all in one go so I could get it returned to the library. It is fun, and joyfully weird. The art is very nice, though sometimes weirdly literal or overly focused on unusual details from the text; not a problem, it really just adds to the weirdness. The text itself is amusing. I find it interesting how it both parodies the sort of (bland) affirmational slogans people like to share on social media, but also often effectively functions as these sorts of posts, even as it pokes fun at them.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, brilliant book! A total gem and worth the hardcover. I remember a few of these when quarantine started and we all needed a little cheering up. And since I was down with covid for a week, I had a chance to dedicate time to reading the entire collection. And it helped me, probably, at least feel better about being in bed for days. The art is so fun too. It adds to the experience.

You CAN do anything!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the world of Twitter found stars and celebrities posting inspirational messages, Chuck Wendig followed suit, but his have his own unique, bloody, and at times macabre twists. This book gathers them and supplements them with appropriate art from Nicole Metzger. Obviously, you can find these on Twitter without the art, but it's an amusing book.

[Peter Longden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous motivational tool! Started reading as a page-a-day book but it’s too funny just for that! It’s laugh-out-loud, wicked humour! Very wacky, but brilliant! Beautifully put together hardback book with fantastic colourful illustrations.
Chuck Wendig at his comic best (a contrast to his serious speculative fiction writing such as ‘Wanderers’).

[Full Throttle Sound · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I can properly explain how perfect this book is. It’s a quick read, it’s silly, it had me laughing at times till my eyes watered, but it was also touching & honest. Zany and quirky on every entry, I found myself smiling on every single page, and by the time I finished, I started thinking of all the people I plan to send a copy to brighten up their world. I can already tell I’ll for sure be rereading this one this year.

[Deb Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The combination of funny words and delightfully quirky art makes this book the non-narcotic mood-lifter we all need. Open to any page to feel inspired, encouraged, entertained, comforted, and seen. Plus space possums!

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilariously, aggressively, and uniquely motivational. You think you're just reading weird little riffs but after a few pages, you realized you actually are empowered. Maybe that power came from a spiteful bridge troll, but whatever.

[Steven Schend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a motivational book, but not for the faint of heart, those who can't process irony, or those without a well-modulated sense of humor.

I read these on Twitter in 2019 & 2020 but they're vastly improved by Metzger's wild illustrations!

[Mara]

Cute. Would make a sweet gift.

"I know they like to say 'it gets better'
But I don't know if that's true
I think it's more that we MAKE it better." (p.82)

"When you make things
You also make yourself." 9.119)

[Byron Churchill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and motivate-y.

[Meg]

delightful weird inspiration. I'm happy to have this collection in published form (with illustrations!)