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To Be Honest: A Memoir by [Michael Leviton]

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Michael Leviton

To Be Honest: A Memoir Kindle Edition

by Michael Leviton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A memoir of “great wit and irony” about growing up in a family fanatically devoted to honesty, and navigating what came next (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

If you’re like most people, you probably lied today. It may have been a small one, some insignificant falsehood meant to protect someone’s feelings or guard your true thoughts. Now imagine if your parents ingrained in you a compulsion to never, under any circumstances, withhold the truth or fail to speak your mind. It might be wonderfully freeing. Everyone else might not appreciate it so much.

To Be Honest is Michael Leviton’s extraordinary account of being raised in a family he calls a “little honesty cult.” For young Michael, his parents’ core philosophy felt liberating. He loved “just being honest.” By the time he was twenty-nine years old, Michael had told only three “lies” in his entire life. But this honesty had consequences—in friendships, on dates, and at job interviews. And when honesty slowly poisoned a great romance, Michael decided there had to be something to lying after all. He set himself the task of learning to be as casually dishonest as the rest of us.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

ABRAMS Press
Publication date

Jan. 5 2021
File size

1265 KB
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Review

“WTF. That’s all I can say about To Be Honest. I mean. What. The. Fun. To Be Honest reads like a case study in interpersonal horror. I cringed and laughed alternately. Eek. What fun! -- Harrison Scott Key ― Thurber Prize–winning author of The World’s Largest Man: A Memoir

"Leviton brings great wit and irony to his debut memoir about the pros and cons of being honest, at all costs, all of the time ... Honestly, this thoroughly enjoyable, wry narrative is a winner." ― Publishers Weekly

“I couldn’t put this book down. Wait—that’s a lie; I had to sleep and stuff. But the truth is that To Be Honest is astonishing, funny (both ha-ha and peculiar), and heartbreakingly touching. Michael Leviton has written such an unflinching look at what it means to tell the truth and to love that you can’t read it without performing an inventory of all the lies you ever told or received, in the name of being human.” -- Faith Salie ― author of Approval Junkie

"Oddly absorbing ... A memoir that shows that while truth doesn’t always mean beauty, there’s something to be said for beautiful liars, too." ― Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Michael Leviton is a writer, musician, photographer, and storyteller. The host of the storytelling series and podcast The Tell, he has worked as a screenwriter and contributed music to television shows, including HBO’s Bored to Death. --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07WPFG57D
Publisher ‏ : ‎ ABRAMS Press (Jan. 5 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1265 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #627,718 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #385 in Parenting & Family Humour (Kindle Store)
- #392 in Relationship Humour
- #648 in Humour in Parenting & Relationships

Customer Reviews:
63 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

63 global ratings

5 star		57%
4 star		17%
3 star		13%
2 star		7%
1 star		5%

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Top review from Canada

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Natalie D.

To be honest... I loved it!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 26, 2021

Michael Leviton is, quite possibly, one of the most honest guys in the world. Born and raised in a family that he has dubbed a "little honesty cult," Leviton had only told three lies by the age of 29. This autobiography discusses the life and relationships of an overly honest individual growing up in the United States.

cw: emotional abuse

How many times in a day do you lie? I like to think of myself as a pretty honest person, but I know there are a few white lies I've told today. My most recent? Checking a box saying that "I have read the terms and conditions." 😂 This audiobook was like a breath of fresh air. It was an honest story, told by an honest man, about the benefits and drawbacks of being truthful AT ALL TIMES. It is cringy, it is hilarious, it is relatable, it is ridiculous.

This audiobook was read by the author himself, which gave it an amazing flow and narration. I loved hearing his chuckles while he reminisced on his story. The pace of the story and speech was great - I was always engaged and intrigued.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this read to any non-fiction reader - especially in its audiobook form!

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Daria Doering

My New Hero!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Reading this book has been quite an experience for me … wow! I was also raised in a Jewish family obsessed with honesty. However I never exactly managed to rise to the challenge. While Michael was a talker from an early age, I have always been quiet, and really struggled to say anything – either small talk or deeper conversation – for my entire life.

So I was mindblown to read about someone raised with the same family emphasis who actually did it – was honest at all times. In fact Michael Leviton is my new hero! I feel like he managed to say, at the age of eight, things I have agonized over for my whole life, and still do. Proclaiming his faults to childhood toughs so he couldn’t be bullied over them, and trying to get them to do the same … wow!

And Michael’s constant crying, in pubic – this is such a triumph, amidst a culture that looks down on it so much, especially for men. I’ve had a similar inclination, but always tried mightily and usually successfully to hold the tears back. Though I cry a lot at home, and have told countless people about the emotional and physical benefits of crying. So I am just in awe of the courage Michael showed in allowing himself to cry all his life!

To put it another way, nothing in the modern world has ever made much sense to me, but my main accomplishment has been to keep my mouth shut and try to not show how different I was or felt. I am not proud of this, and it was not deliberate … just how I responded, being an introvert, to the life I was born into.

I have always accepted social conventions, and figured it was my fault that I couldn’t figure out how to be more successful at them. I really admire how Michael listed and classified all the things people do that are less than honest.

My saving grace has been that I met and married someone like me … a man who was extremely honest. We have had quite a few ups and downs, but his deeply loving and caring nature is definitely what has kept me going.

Though I had to go through quite a lot to learn how to not be inappropriately controlling, which he bitterly resented, and I think would have eventually destroyed our marriage. See The Surrendered Wife by Laura Doyle, which saved our marriage.

Plus I’ve pursued countless classes, therapies and degrees related to emotional health, started many groups myself, all taking baby steps toward being more honest, and it has all helped.

When I was a teenager, back in the 70’s with my VW van, I put up a little sign in the van that said, “What am I really feeling and thinking?” I did this because it seemed like every time I talked to someone, I would realize afterwards there was something I wished I’d said, but it didn’t even occur to me to say it. I was quite detached from bringing what I was really feeling and thinking into my consciousness, let alone saying it.

The book is about the age old dilemma between “honesty” and being dishonest in the service of “caring,” as shown by Michael’s arguments with Eve. Admittedly, his family is an extreme example of being honest but not always nice, and she and her family are extreme examples of being caring but even more dishonest than necessary (at least she started out that way).

Has dishonesty gotten worse? I think it has … people being afraid to say “no,” for example, and “ghosting” others constantly. Rarely do people keep their word.

It is just a fascinating book, exploring the eternal dilemma of honesty vs. niceness, with the main ritual of Michael’s family being the annual family therapy camp … hilarious. Almost hard to even believe it’s true … it’s so funny that it seems made-up.

Can’t wait to see this as a movie!

3 people found this helpful

JHG

“To Be Honest,” I loved it.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

I was very surprised to love this book as much as I did. Skillfully written, this is a portrait of the impact a family can have on a person, and what happens when experience is paired with intellectual self-reflection and, well, honesty. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

4 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Uncomfortable

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

I didnt enjoy it, but that doesn't mean someone else won't. I appreciate that he could realize and attempt to change his behavior, but his definition of "honest" is mean, and mostly felt out of touch and possibly autistic.

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To Be Honest: A Memoir Kindle Edition

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