50 amazing real life stories. This was an excellent read. I highly recommend it! ( )

I had this as a car read, so the reading happened over the course of maybe a year. That's alright though since it's fine (and probably preferable) to savor in small portions. I think some of the stories should really be heard by everyone. A few brought a tear to the eye, a few were very much "what the ...." moments. The collection is excellent and my favorite story was probably by Darryl McDaniels - D.M.C. of Run-D.M.C. ( )

Having a place the story starts and a place it's going: that's important. (Neil Gaiman, introduction, 13)

And let me tell you, when you start your day with two homicide detectives explaining what happened the night before, it's downhill from there. (Ed Gavagan, "Whatever Doesn't Kill Me," 168)

And I thought to myself, This is the real nature of every communication between parent and child. We send them lots of love, they laugh out loud at us, and we don't even know they're doing it. " (Adam Gopnik, "LOL," 183)

The thing about war is it does not disappoint, but it's also way more than you bargained for. (Sebastian Junger, "War," 233)

And sadness is a kind of delicate emotion that's easily trampled by other feelings... (Junger, 237)

I felt bad that I didn't feel bad. I mean, I realized later that I was in shock. And you know, the shock spares you for a little while the things you're gonna have to feel later. (Junger, 238)

But the lesson to me is that with a great deal of persistence and a little bit of common sense, even if the thing you're chasing may not exist, you can sometimes will it into being. (Matthew McGough, "My First Day with the Yankees," 282)

And the thing I love so much about saying yes is that where you start at the beginning of the day and where you end up can be two totally different places based on all the things that you say yes to. (Elna Baker, "Yes Means Yes?" 290)

I refused to hide something about myself that was true, and I refused to be embarrassed about something so that other people could feel more comfortable. (Aimee Mullins, "A Work in Progress," 313)

And what I love about performing is taking a group of individuals and, through a shared emotional experience, turning it into a collective. But my job as a flight attendant is to take a collective and to turn it back into a group of individuals. (Faye Lane, "Fireworks from Above," 386) ( )

One to dip in and out of (hence the very long reading time) but almost all the stories here are excellent. I'd heard many already from the podcast but they work just as well on the page. Frequently choked me up in public too, if you ever saw a slightly teary looking guy on the Jubilee line at 8am that may have been me. ( )

3.5 stars
Would have been good if the stories at the end were a bit more uplifting. Didn’t like finishing on such depressing/sad stories. ( )