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The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown
From storytelling phenomenon The Moth, 45 unforgettable true stories about risk, courage, and facing the unknown, drawn from the best ever told on their stages
Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of live storytelling, All These Wonders features voices both familiar and new. Alongside Louis C.K., Tig Notaro, John Turturro, and Meg Wolitzer, readers will encounter: an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time, an Afghan refugee learning how much her father sacrificed to save their family, a hip-hop star coming to terms with being a one-hit wonder, a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill's secret army during World War II, and more.
High-school student and neuroscientist alike, the storytellers share their ventures into uncharted territory and how their lives were changed indelibly by what they discovered there. With passion, and humor, they encourage us all to be more open, vulnerable, and alive."
Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of live storytelling, All These Wonders features voices both familiar and new. Alongside Louis C.K., Tig Notaro, John Turturro, and Meg Wolitzer, readers will encounter: an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time, an Afghan refugee learning how much her father sacrificed to save their family, a hip-hop star coming to terms with being a one-hit wonder, a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill's secret army during World War II, and more.
High-school student and neuroscientist alike, the storytellers share their ventures into uncharted territory and how their lives were changed indelibly by what they discovered there. With passion, and humor, they encourage us all to be more open, vulnerable, and alive."
331 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 2017
1,681 people are currently reading
17.9k people want to read
About the author
Catherine Burns
3听books70听followersCatherine Burns is artistic director of The Moth and the editor of The Moth: 50 True Stories, The Moth Presents All These Wonders, and The Moth Presents Occasional Magic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 992 reviews
August 2, 2018
Going into this I had no idea what to expect since听I wasn't really familiar with the听storytelling phenomenon that is The Moth. But after having read Neil Gaiman's forward ,听my curiosity was piqued. And I was surprised to find myself finishing听the majority of this collection in one sitting because of how compelling these听real life stories were.
All These Wonders听features voices both familiar and new. Storytellers include听Louis C.K.,听Tig Notaro, John Turturro,听and Meg Wolitzer, as well as a hip hop 鈥渙ne hit wonder,鈥� an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time,听and a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill鈥檚 鈥渟ecret army鈥� during World War II.听They share their ventures into uncharted territory鈥攁nd how their lives were changed forever by what they found there.
I was not prepared for what reading听All These Wonders听would entail. There were a handful of stories听that really managed to infiltrate my everyday thoughts听because I听couldn't stop thinking about them. But I think I mainly loved this collection for being able to capture 鈥渕oments in time caught and gone forever,鈥澨齮o paraphrase what 听Tig Notaro wrote听in听R2, Where Are You?.听Without a doubt, the voices听I'm about to share next听unlocked something in me. (And it's important to remember that these are all nonfiction tales.)
鈥� Adam Mansbach, the author of听Go the Fuck to Sleep, was featured in here and it was incredible:
鈥淚t鈥檚 November 2011, and I am the most controversial parent in America by virtue of a short, obscene, fake children鈥檚 book by the name of Go the Fuck to Sleep.
It鈥檚 fourteen stanzas long鈥攁bout four hundred words, many of them repeated more than once鈥攁nd I wrote it in thirty-nine minutes with no pants on.鈥�
鈥� Josh Bond discovering his next door neighbors and tenants are Catherine Greig & James J. 鈥榃hitey鈥� Bulger. And his story is about how he听鈥渉elped the FBI arrest the most wanted man in the country.鈥�
鈥淪o a couple of months later, my family鈥檚 a little worried about me, and my friends are taking bets on how much longer I have to live. I get home one day, and there鈥檚 a letter in the mail from the Plymouth Correctional Facility. I open it, and I see the same familiar cursive writing, and the same 鈥渟hoot the shit鈥� dialogue tone that I knew from four years living next to Charlie Gasko.
But in this letter he鈥檚 reintroducing himself as Jim Bulger.
And so I wrote him back, and I said, 鈥淟ook, you know I had something to do with the day of the arrest, and my family鈥檚 a little worried. So, uh, you know, just a little note of 鈥榚verything鈥檚 good鈥� would be nice.鈥�
He wrote back and said, 鈥淟ook, they had me with or without your help; no worries.鈥�
So that made my mom feel better, definitely.
New neighbors eventually moved in, and they seemed like nice people.
But what do I know?鈥�
This was without a doubt听one hell of a story.
鈥� Tomi Reichental鈥檚 story was about the Holocaust seen through the eyes of his听nine-year-old self, and it absolutely broke me.
鈥淚 saw a woman in front of me suddenly take her wedding ring off her finger. She looked around, to see if any of the soldiers were looking at her. And then she threw the wedding ring into the ground, to the dust.
Talking to her friend, she said, 鈥淭hese bastards will not get my gold.鈥�
All my rage toward Nazi Germans was back full force. One of the most hard hitting essays.
鈥� Auburn Sandstrom's听A Phone Call describes her call听out for help while听in a dire situation. And my head spun听in amazement at this next conversation shared over the phone:
鈥淚 said, 鈥淣o, really. You鈥檙e very, very good at this. I mean, you鈥檝e seriously done a big thing for me. How long have you been a Christian counselor?鈥�
There鈥檚 a long pause. I hear him shifting. 鈥淎uburn, please don鈥檛 hang up,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been trying not to bring this up.鈥�
鈥淲hat?鈥� I ask.
鈥淵ou won鈥檛 hang up?鈥�
鈥淣辞.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 so afraid to tell you this. But the number you called鈥︹€� He pauses again. 鈥淵ou got the wrong number.鈥�
Well, I didn鈥檛 hang up on him, and we did talk a little longer. I never would get his name or call him back.
But the next day I felt this kind of joy, like I was shining. I think I鈥檝e heard them call it 鈥渢he peace that passes understanding.鈥� I had gotten to see that there was this completely random love in the universe. That it could be unconditional. And that some of it was for me.鈥�
鈥� Dori Samadzai Bonner's A New Home听talks about her听family's fight to stay in the country they call听home.
鈥淔inally he tells my dad, 鈥淵ou know, we here in the United States do not give citizenship to people that break the law. We can鈥檛, and I won鈥檛.鈥�
And as soon as I translate this to my dad, I put my head down, and I just start praying.
When I open my eyes, I see my dad rising out of his seat. He starts unbuckling his belt, at which point I鈥檓 thinking he鈥檚 completely losing his mind. I鈥檓 not sure what he鈥檚 doing.
But he lifts up his shirt on the right side and, in his native language, looks at the judge and says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me.鈥�
He鈥檚 pointing to a five-inch knife scar.
Then he pushes down his pants in the back and turns around a little bit, and again says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me,鈥� pointing at three gunshot wounds.
And he takes off his shoes, and takes off his socks, and says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me.鈥�
He鈥檚 pointing at his toenails, which they had tried to pull out with pliers.
I remember thinking, I know I鈥檓 hearing what I鈥檓 hearing. But everything wasn鈥檛 registering, because I am translating these horrible things and also learning for the first time about my dad鈥檚 whereabouts. All those times years ago that I didn鈥檛 know where he was, wondering if he cared about me, he was in prison being tortured.
And in that moment I have never felt more sorrow.鈥�
My heart just dropped.听This story on immigration pulled out all kind of emotions out of me.
鈥� And the story that听followed afterwards听might听be one of the most frightening situations of a听man facing听the death penalty for a crime he did听not听commit in As If I Was Not There by听Peter Pringle.
鈥淚t was the week before Christmas, and I was sitting in the death cell in Portlaoise Prison in County Laois, Ireland. Some weeks previously I had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court for a murder I did not commit. The Special Criminal Court is a non-jury court.鈥�
What particularly shook me to my core was reading听听afterwards about听Pringle's life with his wife, Sunny Jacobs, who was also听wrongfully convicted.
鈥� And last but not least,听Undercover in North Korea with Its Future Leaders by Suki Kim was another powerful read听detailing听the journey of听a journalist who risks her life听posing as a teacher in an elite听North Korean school.
鈥淔rom that point on, like millions of mothers on both sides of Korea, my grandmother waited for her son to come home.
Over seventy years have passed, and that border鈥攚hich Koreans thought was temporary鈥攊s still there. Even though I moved to America when I was thirteen years old, this family history haunted me. Later, as a writer, I became obsessed with North Korea and finding out the truth of what was really going on there.
So I went undercover as a teacher and a missionary.鈥�
Now I听feel听compelled to read her book Without You, There Is No Us听because her writing style is听so听effervescent and heartbreaking and real.
So while a majority of the tales in here left me听awash in tears, there was still a big junk of stories that I did not care for (mainly from those white privileged individuals). But听on a much brighter note, the journey this collection took me on is one I won't be forgetting anytime soon. (Also, bonus points for letting me add two book to my TBR:听Tig Notaro's memoir, along with the aforementioned book by听Suki Kim.)
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying The Moth Presents All These Wonders, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with
All These Wonders听features voices both familiar and new. Storytellers include听Louis C.K.,听Tig Notaro, John Turturro,听and Meg Wolitzer, as well as a hip hop 鈥渙ne hit wonder,鈥� an astronomer gazing at the surface of Pluto for the first time,听and a young female spy risking everything as part of Churchill鈥檚 鈥渟ecret army鈥� during World War II.听They share their ventures into uncharted territory鈥攁nd how their lives were changed forever by what they found there.
I was not prepared for what reading听All These Wonders听would entail. There were a handful of stories听that really managed to infiltrate my everyday thoughts听because I听couldn't stop thinking about them. But I think I mainly loved this collection for being able to capture 鈥渕oments in time caught and gone forever,鈥澨齮o paraphrase what 听Tig Notaro wrote听in听R2, Where Are You?.听Without a doubt, the voices听I'm about to share next听unlocked something in me. (And it's important to remember that these are all nonfiction tales.)
鈥� Adam Mansbach, the author of听Go the Fuck to Sleep, was featured in here and it was incredible:
鈥淚t鈥檚 November 2011, and I am the most controversial parent in America by virtue of a short, obscene, fake children鈥檚 book by the name of Go the Fuck to Sleep.
It鈥檚 fourteen stanzas long鈥攁bout four hundred words, many of them repeated more than once鈥攁nd I wrote it in thirty-nine minutes with no pants on.鈥�
鈥� Josh Bond discovering his next door neighbors and tenants are Catherine Greig & James J. 鈥榃hitey鈥� Bulger. And his story is about how he听鈥渉elped the FBI arrest the most wanted man in the country.鈥�
鈥淪o a couple of months later, my family鈥檚 a little worried about me, and my friends are taking bets on how much longer I have to live. I get home one day, and there鈥檚 a letter in the mail from the Plymouth Correctional Facility. I open it, and I see the same familiar cursive writing, and the same 鈥渟hoot the shit鈥� dialogue tone that I knew from four years living next to Charlie Gasko.
But in this letter he鈥檚 reintroducing himself as Jim Bulger.
And so I wrote him back, and I said, 鈥淟ook, you know I had something to do with the day of the arrest, and my family鈥檚 a little worried. So, uh, you know, just a little note of 鈥榚verything鈥檚 good鈥� would be nice.鈥�
He wrote back and said, 鈥淟ook, they had me with or without your help; no worries.鈥�
So that made my mom feel better, definitely.
New neighbors eventually moved in, and they seemed like nice people.
But what do I know?鈥�
This was without a doubt听one hell of a story.
鈥� Tomi Reichental鈥檚 story was about the Holocaust seen through the eyes of his听nine-year-old self, and it absolutely broke me.
鈥淚 saw a woman in front of me suddenly take her wedding ring off her finger. She looked around, to see if any of the soldiers were looking at her. And then she threw the wedding ring into the ground, to the dust.
Talking to her friend, she said, 鈥淭hese bastards will not get my gold.鈥�
All my rage toward Nazi Germans was back full force. One of the most hard hitting essays.
鈥� Auburn Sandstrom's听A Phone Call describes her call听out for help while听in a dire situation. And my head spun听in amazement at this next conversation shared over the phone:
鈥淚 said, 鈥淣o, really. You鈥檙e very, very good at this. I mean, you鈥檝e seriously done a big thing for me. How long have you been a Christian counselor?鈥�
There鈥檚 a long pause. I hear him shifting. 鈥淎uburn, please don鈥檛 hang up,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been trying not to bring this up.鈥�
鈥淲hat?鈥� I ask.
鈥淵ou won鈥檛 hang up?鈥�
鈥淣辞.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 so afraid to tell you this. But the number you called鈥︹€� He pauses again. 鈥淵ou got the wrong number.鈥�
Well, I didn鈥檛 hang up on him, and we did talk a little longer. I never would get his name or call him back.
But the next day I felt this kind of joy, like I was shining. I think I鈥檝e heard them call it 鈥渢he peace that passes understanding.鈥� I had gotten to see that there was this completely random love in the universe. That it could be unconditional. And that some of it was for me.鈥�
鈥� Dori Samadzai Bonner's A New Home听talks about her听family's fight to stay in the country they call听home.
鈥淔inally he tells my dad, 鈥淵ou know, we here in the United States do not give citizenship to people that break the law. We can鈥檛, and I won鈥檛.鈥�
And as soon as I translate this to my dad, I put my head down, and I just start praying.
When I open my eyes, I see my dad rising out of his seat. He starts unbuckling his belt, at which point I鈥檓 thinking he鈥檚 completely losing his mind. I鈥檓 not sure what he鈥檚 doing.
But he lifts up his shirt on the right side and, in his native language, looks at the judge and says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me.鈥�
He鈥檚 pointing to a five-inch knife scar.
Then he pushes down his pants in the back and turns around a little bit, and again says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me,鈥� pointing at three gunshot wounds.
And he takes off his shoes, and takes off his socks, and says, 鈥淭his is what the communists did to me.鈥�
He鈥檚 pointing at his toenails, which they had tried to pull out with pliers.
I remember thinking, I know I鈥檓 hearing what I鈥檓 hearing. But everything wasn鈥檛 registering, because I am translating these horrible things and also learning for the first time about my dad鈥檚 whereabouts. All those times years ago that I didn鈥檛 know where he was, wondering if he cared about me, he was in prison being tortured.
And in that moment I have never felt more sorrow.鈥�
My heart just dropped.听This story on immigration pulled out all kind of emotions out of me.
鈥� And the story that听followed afterwards听might听be one of the most frightening situations of a听man facing听the death penalty for a crime he did听not听commit in As If I Was Not There by听Peter Pringle.
鈥淚t was the week before Christmas, and I was sitting in the death cell in Portlaoise Prison in County Laois, Ireland. Some weeks previously I had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court for a murder I did not commit. The Special Criminal Court is a non-jury court.鈥�
What particularly shook me to my core was reading听听afterwards about听Pringle's life with his wife, Sunny Jacobs, who was also听wrongfully convicted.
鈥� And last but not least,听Undercover in North Korea with Its Future Leaders by Suki Kim was another powerful read听detailing听the journey of听a journalist who risks her life听posing as a teacher in an elite听North Korean school.
鈥淔rom that point on, like millions of mothers on both sides of Korea, my grandmother waited for her son to come home.
Over seventy years have passed, and that border鈥攚hich Koreans thought was temporary鈥攊s still there. Even though I moved to America when I was thirteen years old, this family history haunted me. Later, as a writer, I became obsessed with North Korea and finding out the truth of what was really going on there.
So I went undercover as a teacher and a missionary.鈥�
Now I听feel听compelled to read her book Without You, There Is No Us听because her writing style is听so听effervescent and heartbreaking and real.
So while a majority of the tales in here left me听awash in tears, there was still a big junk of stories that I did not care for (mainly from those white privileged individuals). But听on a much brighter note, the journey this collection took me on is one I won't be forgetting anytime soon. (Also, bonus points for letting me add two book to my TBR:听Tig Notaro's memoir, along with the aforementioned book by听Suki Kim.)
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying The Moth Presents All These Wonders, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with
April 18, 2019
My friend Brendan has this saying, something he calls the "Grand Unifying Theory of New York." It's a bit grandiloquent and certainly misnamed, but the logic is sound. Essentially, he maintains that you're totally free to cry in public in New York, because of some combination of 1) people are accustomed to emotional outbursts in public here; 2) we're all too rushed and self-absorbed to really notice anyone else; and 3) it's hard to spot people you know amidst the throngs of humanity. This book allowed me to test the "theory" out this week, because I found myself sobbing on my subway commutes, reading these short and incredibly poignant stories of loss, joy, disappointment, healing, and just unfathomable grace.
This book, like few others, exudes humanity. Nearly every story--and there are plenty; they are short--conveys so much about a person or a particular experience, and does so extremey evocatively. This is a book that I will be giving out as a gift for years to come, and The Moth is a source that I hope I'm just beginning to get acquainted with. Read this and remind yourself how numinous the human experience can be.
This book, like few others, exudes humanity. Nearly every story--and there are plenty; they are short--conveys so much about a person or a particular experience, and does so extremey evocatively. This is a book that I will be giving out as a gift for years to come, and The Moth is a source that I hope I'm just beginning to get acquainted with. Read this and remind yourself how numinous the human experience can be.
March 19, 2019
Not only is this a terrific bunch of stuff, it also functions as a personality test, and the things you find out about yourself might not be the things you particularly wanted to know.
I was completely unaware of this Moth phenomenon. It鈥檚 been going on since the late 90s, it says here, and it鈥檚 all about storytelling. Some person will get on a stage and talk into a microphone and tell the audience a story. This has become a really big thing. What did I know. Me and the zeitgeist, we are not so close anymore.
I should say straight off that they are using this word storytelling in a specialized way. These aren鈥檛 made up fictional stories, these are autobiographical mini-essays. It鈥檚 all true. And these are not some random amateurs telling us their experiences. This book could have been called
THE MOTH : A COLLECTION OF CURIOUS AND AMUSING INCIDENTS FEATURING MOSTLY MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS WITH MOSTLY ARTISTIC CAREERS
Normal people are not invited to the Moth. Let鈥檚 take a random sample of four tale tellers here : Sara Barron is the author of the story collections blah blah blah, her work has featured in Vanity Fair blah blah; Stephanie Peirolo is the author of the novel Radio Silence; Dr Mary-Claire King is American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle鈥� she was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Obama; Simon Bill is an artist and writer, his novel Artist in Residence blah blah鈥�.
So the first part of the personality test made me uncomfortably aware that I am quite prejudiced against this flowing parade of the great and the good, and when I came to Tony Wheeler鈥檚 account of how he was this guy with a wanderlust who whisked his jolly family all over the world in this jolly smug hippy way and created the Lonely Planet series of travel books and made billions I couldn鈥檛 stop counting up the pitifully few countries I鈥檝e visited and the years wasted without founding a single publishing empire and frankly I resented Tony Wheeler and I didn鈥檛 feel so good about that.
But Tony is an anomaly. In general what you get here is a whole series of being thrown into the middle of situations.
One guy was working inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on the day of the earthquake March 11, 2011
One woman discovers a family secret 鈥� her dad was black! She thought he was white!
One woman has to decide if her brain damaged son should be switched off
One guy wrote Go the Fuck to Sleep and tells us about the media typhoon that blew his life to pieces because of that
One guy gets to be an extra in Silence of the Lambs - and blows his scene, repeatedly
And there are a number of really grim ones too. One guy鈥檚 daughter is raped and killed. He describes the trial and his thoughts about the murderer and how he eventually met the murderer and forgave the murderer and here is another part of the personality test of this book 鈥� when he forgave his daughter鈥檚 murderer I could not accept it! I was thinking No! You can鈥檛 do that! Forgive a moral degenerate like that! This book will get you like that, and uncomfortable truths are revealed. A new mother鈥檚 painful feelings when her baby has Downs; an experience in Congo trying to rescue people who will otherwise be killed. But then on the next page you will get an account of the kosher food problem when you鈥檙e ultra Orthodox. Psychological whiplash is the result of reading this stuff straight through. Which you can鈥檛 stop 鈥� like a bag of Revels, oh just one more , just one more until the whole bag is gone. In double quick time.
You may be thinking 鈥� aren鈥檛 these just 49 Readers Digest articles? 鈥淚 am John鈥檚 spleen鈥�, 鈥淚 fell off the Eiffel Tower and died鈥�, 鈥淢y wife was in the Manson Family鈥�, that sort of thing. Well, yes, It鈥檚 kind of true. Okay, it is completely true. Busted! But I didn鈥檛 care, it was great, funny, good, bad, strange and annoying, some times all at once.
Kind of recommended.
I was completely unaware of this Moth phenomenon. It鈥檚 been going on since the late 90s, it says here, and it鈥檚 all about storytelling. Some person will get on a stage and talk into a microphone and tell the audience a story. This has become a really big thing. What did I know. Me and the zeitgeist, we are not so close anymore.
I should say straight off that they are using this word storytelling in a specialized way. These aren鈥檛 made up fictional stories, these are autobiographical mini-essays. It鈥檚 all true. And these are not some random amateurs telling us their experiences. This book could have been called
THE MOTH : A COLLECTION OF CURIOUS AND AMUSING INCIDENTS FEATURING MOSTLY MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS WITH MOSTLY ARTISTIC CAREERS
Normal people are not invited to the Moth. Let鈥檚 take a random sample of four tale tellers here : Sara Barron is the author of the story collections blah blah blah, her work has featured in Vanity Fair blah blah; Stephanie Peirolo is the author of the novel Radio Silence; Dr Mary-Claire King is American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle鈥� she was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Obama; Simon Bill is an artist and writer, his novel Artist in Residence blah blah鈥�.
So the first part of the personality test made me uncomfortably aware that I am quite prejudiced against this flowing parade of the great and the good, and when I came to Tony Wheeler鈥檚 account of how he was this guy with a wanderlust who whisked his jolly family all over the world in this jolly smug hippy way and created the Lonely Planet series of travel books and made billions I couldn鈥檛 stop counting up the pitifully few countries I鈥檝e visited and the years wasted without founding a single publishing empire and frankly I resented Tony Wheeler and I didn鈥檛 feel so good about that.
But Tony is an anomaly. In general what you get here is a whole series of being thrown into the middle of situations.
One guy was working inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on the day of the earthquake March 11, 2011
One woman discovers a family secret 鈥� her dad was black! She thought he was white!
One woman has to decide if her brain damaged son should be switched off
One guy wrote Go the Fuck to Sleep and tells us about the media typhoon that blew his life to pieces because of that
One guy gets to be an extra in Silence of the Lambs - and blows his scene, repeatedly
And there are a number of really grim ones too. One guy鈥檚 daughter is raped and killed. He describes the trial and his thoughts about the murderer and how he eventually met the murderer and forgave the murderer and here is another part of the personality test of this book 鈥� when he forgave his daughter鈥檚 murderer I could not accept it! I was thinking No! You can鈥檛 do that! Forgive a moral degenerate like that! This book will get you like that, and uncomfortable truths are revealed. A new mother鈥檚 painful feelings when her baby has Downs; an experience in Congo trying to rescue people who will otherwise be killed. But then on the next page you will get an account of the kosher food problem when you鈥檙e ultra Orthodox. Psychological whiplash is the result of reading this stuff straight through. Which you can鈥檛 stop 鈥� like a bag of Revels, oh just one more , just one more until the whole bag is gone. In double quick time.
You may be thinking 鈥� aren鈥檛 these just 49 Readers Digest articles? 鈥淚 am John鈥檚 spleen鈥�, 鈥淚 fell off the Eiffel Tower and died鈥�, 鈥淢y wife was in the Manson Family鈥�, that sort of thing. Well, yes, It鈥檚 kind of true. Okay, it is completely true. Busted! But I didn鈥檛 care, it was great, funny, good, bad, strange and annoying, some times all at once.
Kind of recommended.
April 25, 2017
Most of these stories are spectacular and unmissable鈥擪evin McGeehan's almost had me in tears during lunch! I can highly recommend this book :)
I do have a gripe with what I'm now seeing is the common voice/style of American storytelling that I recently encountered in 鈥攖hat kinda folksy ass, seems-all-random-'cept-for-moments-like-these, it-ain't-so-bad, 'We're all just sentient meatpackets on a crazy blue spacemarble looking for love/where else in the world would you see a crack dealer tie a string to a, uh, kid's birthday balloon in the moonlight when your first kiss is lighting your 4th of July sparkler' uh like everywhere, apparently lol. Youse guys' stories all sound like that and my heart's still medium-rare, mate. Gotta mix it up if you wanna warm it up! ;D!!
But forgive this Glaswegian for taking yet another easy opportunity for cynicism: that's what we mostly do! This book is great :)
I do have a gripe with what I'm now seeing is the common voice/style of American storytelling that I recently encountered in 鈥攖hat kinda folksy ass, seems-all-random-'cept-for-moments-like-these, it-ain't-so-bad, 'We're all just sentient meatpackets on a crazy blue spacemarble looking for love/where else in the world would you see a crack dealer tie a string to a, uh, kid's birthday balloon in the moonlight when your first kiss is lighting your 4th of July sparkler' uh like everywhere, apparently lol. Youse guys' stories all sound like that and my heart's still medium-rare, mate. Gotta mix it up if you wanna warm it up! ;D!!
But forgive this Glaswegian for taking yet another easy opportunity for cynicism: that's what we mostly do! This book is great :)
January 9, 2019
This book was a gift, in more ways than one. I loved reading each person's story. In many cases, it made me want to know more about all of them. It was and enlightening and uplifting read. And I can highly recommend it.
July 10, 2017
Brilliant, thoughtful and very enjoyable. It is a wonderful collection of highly personal stories that in some way shape or form changed the person or helped define them. I read three or four a night and each time found myself falling asleep with something to think about. From the boy who excelled at paintball because he grew up as a child soldier, to the little girl left with a super star at the airport because her mum had to run off to the man who struggles to let go of a childhood betrayal. Each story offers something unique and this is destined to become a favourite and be reread many times over.
June 14, 2018
I have to admit that I had never heard of 鈥� an organisation whose mission is to 鈥減romote the art and craft of storytelling and to honor and celebrate the diversity and commonality of human experience鈥� 鈥� before picking up this collection of forty-five of their favourite stories about facing the unknown. And while we are assured that these previously oral stories have only been lightly edited for the page, I'm not certain that writing down that which is meant to be spoken makes for a totally successful endeavour; for many of these stories, something was obviously lost in translation for me. On the other hand, I gasped and cried and laughed while reading several of these stories, and reading other reviews, I can see that different stories affected different readers in the same way 鈥� and isn't that the beauty of storytelling? People sharing their truths in the hopes of making a connection? I'm just going to memorialise some of my favourites here (necessarily spoilery).
In Fog Of Disbelief, Carl Pillitteri describes his experience as an engineer at the Fukushima nuclear power plant as the earthquakes hit. His descriptions were vivid and exciting:
After escaping the building and then watching the tsunami that first filled the horizon from north to south with a flood of water and then sucked the water back out with it 鈥� leaving nothing but seabed filling the horizon from north to south 鈥� Pillitteri tried calling his wife for hours, but all the networks were busy. Finally making a connection, 鈥淲hen I said her name, she just screamed and kept screaming.鈥� And, yep, that made me cry; thinking that's exactly how I'd react in that situation.
In Walking With RJ, Stephanie Peirolo writes about a terrible car accident her son, RJ, survived. And despite her being the vice president of a company with what she had assumed was excellent health insurance, it wasn't enough to cover his lengthy rehab or further years of nursing care (we don't have everything covered here in Canada, but this particular story could never play out here and it appalled me). Mistakes are made and RJ dies and Peirolo writes:
And that made me cry, thinking about losing one of my own kids to bureaucratic sleaziness. But not all of the stories are sad. In Go The %@# To Sleep, Adam Mansbach writes about the sudden fame and notoriety he received after writing a certain parodic children's book, jokingly pushing back to critics, 鈥淚t would take a very special blend of literacy and illiteracy to mistakenly read this book to a child.鈥� This story had me smiling throughout as Mansbach co-hosted a parenting conference with Dr Ferber (of the Ferber Method for sleep training babies) and he had to wonder if he was qualified to stand on stage alongside the doctor, concluding:
And the most devastating story I read here was A Phone Call by Auburn Sandstrom. In it, she writes that when she hit rock bottom 鈥� as her mother warned her that one day she would 鈥� she decided to finally call the phone number of a Christian counselor whose number her mother had pressed on her years before. Waking the man at two in the morning, she explained that she needed to talk, and the man told her to go ahead. After spending hours describing her drug addictions, the abuse she suffered from her husband, and her neglect of her baby in pursuit of her highs, Sandstrom was impressed by how supportive and present the counselor was; saying at the end that if he needed to give her some Bible verses, she'd probably even read them. The man paused awkwardly and says, 鈥淚'm so afraid to tell you this. But the number you called...鈥� he pauses again. 鈥淵ou got the wrong number.鈥� That gutted me; I was completely floored by the idea of Sandstrom reaching out from her rock bottom and a complete stranger lifting her up.
Grace is the word. As for the other stories 鈥� I should have been moved by Ishmael Beah (the former child soldier of fame) and his tale of trying to fit in with his high school peers in America 鈥� and not wanting them to know why he's so good at a paint ball war if he's never played before 鈥� but it didn't really work for me (yet, I bet I would cry if I saw him tell it live). It was surprising/not surprising to me that Meg Wolitzer's story of a summer camp landed better than Louis CK's narrative of a trip he took to Moscow just as the Soviet Union was breaking apart; Louis CK is a master oral storyteller, but print is Wolitzer's milieu and her story just worked better on the page. George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth, tells a polished and interesting tale of the time he spent living in a mausoleum as a teenager; I would hope his story would stand out in what is technically his own collection. As for others unknown to me, Josh Bond tells an exciting story of being an ordinary citizen helping the FBI to bring in a dangerous fugitive, Sara Barron's voice was engaging and authentic in her story of dealing with her husband's ex-wife, and Christian Garland 鈥� a participant in The Moth's inaugural New York City High School GrandSLAM 鈥� tells a story full of heart and teenaged exuberance; I could hear these voices coming off the page. Ultimately, this doesn't work completely as a book 鈥� I'm going to look into the podcast, see if there will be a live show coming near me anytime soon 鈥� but I'm glad to have become familiar with the work that The Moth does and don't regret reading the bits that worked for me.
In Fog Of Disbelief, Carl Pillitteri describes his experience as an engineer at the Fukushima nuclear power plant as the earthquakes hit. His descriptions were vivid and exciting:
The concrete floor and the walls around us began to crack, and sections of ductwork were coming down, and the lights, the lights were dropping everywhere. The huge, vast space that we were in quickly filled with what I first thought was smoke, but was actually a thick cloud of dust that was being thrown airborne from this huge structure getting the living hell shook out of it.
After escaping the building and then watching the tsunami that first filled the horizon from north to south with a flood of water and then sucked the water back out with it 鈥� leaving nothing but seabed filling the horizon from north to south 鈥� Pillitteri tried calling his wife for hours, but all the networks were busy. Finally making a connection, 鈥淲hen I said her name, she just screamed and kept screaming.鈥� And, yep, that made me cry; thinking that's exactly how I'd react in that situation.
In Walking With RJ, Stephanie Peirolo writes about a terrible car accident her son, RJ, survived. And despite her being the vice president of a company with what she had assumed was excellent health insurance, it wasn't enough to cover his lengthy rehab or further years of nursing care (we don't have everything covered here in Canada, but this particular story could never play out here and it appalled me). Mistakes are made and RJ dies and Peirolo writes:
Most days I wake up, and the world is so diminished without him in it, it's like there's been a total eclipse of the sun. Only I'm the only one who can see it, and I know the light is never coming back.
And that made me cry, thinking about losing one of my own kids to bureaucratic sleaziness. But not all of the stories are sad. In Go The %@# To Sleep, Adam Mansbach writes about the sudden fame and notoriety he received after writing a certain parodic children's book, jokingly pushing back to critics, 鈥淚t would take a very special blend of literacy and illiteracy to mistakenly read this book to a child.鈥� This story had me smiling throughout as Mansbach co-hosted a parenting conference with Dr Ferber (of the Ferber Method for sleep training babies) and he had to wonder if he was qualified to stand on stage alongside the doctor, concluding:
Maybe I'm not actually faking this. Maybe we're all faking this equally. And maybe I do know a couple of things. Like keep your sense of humor at all costs. Or embrace the absurdity of the situations in which you find yourself. Or even, realize that there are worse things than spending two hours trapped in a room with the person you love most in the world.
And the most devastating story I read here was A Phone Call by Auburn Sandstrom. In it, she writes that when she hit rock bottom 鈥� as her mother warned her that one day she would 鈥� she decided to finally call the phone number of a Christian counselor whose number her mother had pressed on her years before. Waking the man at two in the morning, she explained that she needed to talk, and the man told her to go ahead. After spending hours describing her drug addictions, the abuse she suffered from her husband, and her neglect of her baby in pursuit of her highs, Sandstrom was impressed by how supportive and present the counselor was; saying at the end that if he needed to give her some Bible verses, she'd probably even read them. The man paused awkwardly and says, 鈥淚'm so afraid to tell you this. But the number you called...鈥� he pauses again. 鈥淵ou got the wrong number.鈥� That gutted me; I was completely floored by the idea of Sandstrom reaching out from her rock bottom and a complete stranger lifting her up.
This is what I know. In the deepest, blackest night of despair, if you can just get one pinhole of light...all of grace rushes in.
Grace is the word. As for the other stories 鈥� I should have been moved by Ishmael Beah (the former child soldier of fame) and his tale of trying to fit in with his high school peers in America 鈥� and not wanting them to know why he's so good at a paint ball war if he's never played before 鈥� but it didn't really work for me (yet, I bet I would cry if I saw him tell it live). It was surprising/not surprising to me that Meg Wolitzer's story of a summer camp landed better than Louis CK's narrative of a trip he took to Moscow just as the Soviet Union was breaking apart; Louis CK is a master oral storyteller, but print is Wolitzer's milieu and her story just worked better on the page. George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth, tells a polished and interesting tale of the time he spent living in a mausoleum as a teenager; I would hope his story would stand out in what is technically his own collection. As for others unknown to me, Josh Bond tells an exciting story of being an ordinary citizen helping the FBI to bring in a dangerous fugitive, Sara Barron's voice was engaging and authentic in her story of dealing with her husband's ex-wife, and Christian Garland 鈥� a participant in The Moth's inaugural New York City High School GrandSLAM 鈥� tells a story full of heart and teenaged exuberance; I could hear these voices coming off the page. Ultimately, this doesn't work completely as a book 鈥� I'm going to look into the podcast, see if there will be a live show coming near me anytime soon 鈥� but I'm glad to have become familiar with the work that The Moth does and don't regret reading the bits that worked for me.
March 28, 2017
I cried several times in the course of reading The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown, edited by Catherine Burns, with a forward by Neil Gaiman. The Moth is a storytelling platform that hosts events all over the United States. It launched in 1997 and holds events, each themed, where people tell their stories without notes to a live audience. This is a packed collection of 45 stories about risk, courage, worry, and facing the unknown.
The stories are incredible. There鈥檚 nothing like reading 45 people telling you honestly, with grace and humor, about a turning point in their lives. Read a story about a party a man threw for his dying mother and how he discovered her worst fear in the process. Read about a child soldier, now adopted and in the United States, who has been invited to play paintball with his new friends. Read about a man who realizes and comes to terms with being a one-hit wonder. Read about kind strangers, dire situations, parents who end up understanding you after all. The chapters go by quickly, divided into sections: The Eternal Music of the Spheres, Things I鈥檝e Seen, Keeping the Lid On, Grace Rushes In, Like a Man Does, To Face the Fear, and By Every Claim of Love. Each story is a surprise. Each one will change you, just a little bit, by reminding you something about the human condition, or telling you something you didn鈥檛 know before about the joys and hope that comes with being human.
I received this book from @crownpublishing in exchange for an honest review. I loved it, and I would recommend it to anyone I know. The first thing I did when I was finished was look up the next StorySLAM in my area. See you soon, The Moth, because this is incredible, and I want to be part of it.
February 7, 2017
Poignant and raw, these storytellers capture the essence of living through sharing their stories. As engrossing as The Moth radio hour.
July 16, 2019
These "Moth" stories are great - especially if you are like me and carry a book with you everywhere and read it in short bursts as each story can be read in a few minutes. Didn't quite enjoy this collection as much as the original one ( but it was still a very strong 4 star read if not a 5 star read like that one. The latest collection is still quite expensive to buy and there's hardly any second hand copies around so I'm very pleased to discover that the Edinburgh library system has a copy for me to order which I will be reading as soon as I can get my hands on it!
April 7, 2017
I thought this would be a collection of short stories and was pleasantly surprised to discover a series of short memoirs. John Turturro鈥檚 story was particularly interesting to me as I am a big fan of his work.
These are poignant and insightful true stories that give you a different perspective of their lives. Well written and interesting, you may feel as if you are at a personal reading or sitting in their den as their story unfolds. I鈥檓 actually still reading some of the stories but so far I love this book.
Before getting this book I didn鈥檛 know about The Moth. It鈥檚 about the art of storytelling. Check out their site HERE. There are free audio stories and they are just wonderful.
Here is The Moth's Facebook page.
I received this book from the Blogging for Books Program. All opinions are my own, I was not compensated.
These are poignant and insightful true stories that give you a different perspective of their lives. Well written and interesting, you may feel as if you are at a personal reading or sitting in their den as their story unfolds. I鈥檓 actually still reading some of the stories but so far I love this book.
Before getting this book I didn鈥檛 know about The Moth. It鈥檚 about the art of storytelling. Check out their site HERE. There are free audio stories and they are just wonderful.
Here is The Moth's Facebook page.
I received this book from the Blogging for Books Program. All opinions are my own, I was not compensated.
November 26, 2020
H谩 muito tempo que n茫o sentia tanta contratransfer锚ncia na hora de ler um livro ao ponto de me tirar l谩grimas ou me fazer suspirar profundamente antes de fechar cada cap铆tulo. Este livro 茅 uma colet芒nea de 45 anedotas de pessoas contadas por todo tipo de gente. Cada hist贸ria cont茅m uma quantidade absurda de emo莽茫o que s贸 a oralidade consegue transmitir, coisa que 茅 conseguida de forma bastante s贸lida.
Com certeza foi uma das melhores leituras que fiz esse ano, sem d煤vida alguma, e recomendo pra qualquer pessoa que gosta do g锚nero.
Com certeza foi uma das melhores leituras que fiz esse ano, sem d煤vida alguma, e recomendo pra qualquer pessoa que gosta do g锚nero.
December 16, 2022
I love hearing people鈥檚 stories on The Moth, it is a cool experience to be able to read them as well
March 21, 2017
Every one of these stories is related in a lively, engaging, individual voice. (Well of course they are: storytelling is what The Moth is all about.)
For best effect, I read just a few entries at a sitting. The theme of "facing the unknown" is thoroughly illustrated, but too much of that felt like more than enough heartstring-pulling for me. I appreciated each entry much more when I let it take the stage all by itself.
(I received this book as a 欧宝娱乐 giveaway.)
For best effect, I read just a few entries at a sitting. The theme of "facing the unknown" is thoroughly illustrated, but too much of that felt like more than enough heartstring-pulling for me. I appreciated each entry much more when I let it take the stage all by itself.
(I received this book as a 欧宝娱乐 giveaway.)
January 21, 2025
This is a beautiful book. I discovered it during one of my most depressive times, when I thought I lost all hope at life... some of these stories reminded me that all wasn't lost and encouraged me to get back into writing. Really so glad I found this gem. I think it was in a random bookstore on a spontaneous adventure. Of course. :)
August 25, 2022
I've listened to the Moth podcast on and off here and there, but picked up this book from a little free library mainly because of the pretty cover and forward by Neil Gaiman. So good job marketing and design team, you got me, at least when the price was $0. Anyway, this was a lovely collection of short human stories about all kinds of different life experiences. There are a few that will genuinely stick with me for years, including one about grief written by a chaplain, and one about the woman who became David Bowie's hairdresser during the Ziggy Stardust years. My one small complain about this book is the fact that all the stories are of nearly the exact same length slightly lessoned their emotional impact as I started to get towards the end of the book.
December 2, 2018
I rarely stumble upon this NPR series when flipping channels on the radio, but every time I do it pulls me in. This compilation had the same power. A more polished but just-as-honest version of the Storycorp series.
March 22, 2020
I received The Moth as a Christmas gift from a fellow coach/friend/neighbor. Prior to this, I was not at all familiar with this story-telling phenomenon and had no idea what to expect. I found so many of the true stories to be a powerful reflection of the human spirit. Who couldn鈥檛 use that now - has me asking myself, what can I learn about my own resilience...if I鈥檓 quiet enough to reflect and listen.
December 9, 2018
Nao sou f茫 de hist贸rias dram谩ticas, com morte doen莽as terminais e etc. Esse 茅 o 煤nico ponto negativo em todo o livro e, ainda bem, nao 茅 a tonica principal. Esse 茅 um livro de hist贸rias 煤noco. Jamais tinha lido qualquer coisa parecida. Os relatos sao reais e espontaneos, como uma conversa de boteco entre melhores amigos. Todo tipo de pessoa e experiencias, tudo condensado em textos curtos e absurdamente cheios de vida. Nao 茅 exatamente uma leitura. 脡 uma experiencia e vale a pena ser vivida.
December 6, 2019
I had a hard time reviewing this book. The stories are so varied and cover all aspects of life from experiences of people all over the world. They were heart-breaking, fascinating, joyous, or even absolutely insane and unbelievable. But there were also some stories that honestly bored me a bit. I think that鈥檚 just the risk with true story collections, and the book is still a good representation of the variety of experiences people have worldwide in life. I would recommend this to anyone who loves hearing about people鈥檚 stories and experiences!
January 5, 2020
Omg this was the perfect introduction to my 2020 reading plans. Would HIGHLY recommend, but would also recommend reading max 2-3 stories per sitting to fully absorb how wonderful and poignant they can be.
August 5, 2022
A wonderful read that I completed in one sitting. The collection was vulnerable, powerful, and full of courage. I felt a connection to each of the storytellers and found I learned just as much about myself as I did them. A beautiful demonstration of the strength of the human spirit.
April 2, 2017
I've finished two great books this week, and that is enough for me to say it's been a good reading week. Both books have a lot of similarities. Both On Living by Kerry Egan and All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown are nonfiction. Both books are about times in one's life when a person faces an enormous, potentially life-changing situation and about how those situations play out. All These Wonders is stories told at various locations around the world at The Moth on the storytelling stage. On Living has stories related by Egan, a hospice chaplain, that were shared with her in her role of talking with the dying. Both of these books are composed of powerful stories, stories that worked their way into my heart, into my bones, as I read them. Both books are reminders to live, folks, reminders that it is people and experiences we need. I highly recommend them both.
January 8, 2025
I picked this book up a long time ago because I鈥檓 a fan of The Moth podcast. However, reading the stories in print just doesn鈥檛 have the same impact as hearing the story told aloud. The stories from 鈥渞egular people鈥� were definitely more impactful to me than the stories from celebrities. Also, the people included are unfortunately kind of dated鈥擫ouis CK in particular. I think this was ok enough to place in my nearest Free Little Library.
February 4, 2017
I received this uncorrected proof from 欧宝娱乐 through a giveaway. Thank you!
I heard many of these stories on the radio over the last few years. Reading them in book form is a wonderful experience. I found myself crying on the train almost everyday as I read it. I love being able to connect with the humanity represented in every story. The range of author from teenager to nonagenarian and from African genocide to Chicago crack addicts to the father of a murdered woman and the mother of a child with Down's Syndrome, the reader experiences the depth of the human heart and the common experiences of living on earth. What a pleasure it was to read this book.
I heard many of these stories on the radio over the last few years. Reading them in book form is a wonderful experience. I found myself crying on the train almost everyday as I read it. I love being able to connect with the humanity represented in every story. The range of author from teenager to nonagenarian and from African genocide to Chicago crack addicts to the father of a murdered woman and the mother of a child with Down's Syndrome, the reader experiences the depth of the human heart and the common experiences of living on earth. What a pleasure it was to read this book.
October 10, 2017
This book was the exact read I needed when I picked it up. I have always loved short form stories and these were made infinitely better by the reality of them. It鈥檚 as if someone took the premise of chicken soup for the soul and made it less trite and more focused. Each story touched so strongly and tightly on a point, a thought, or a narrative. This may be one of the few books I buy this year instead of checking it out from the library repeatedly. I am grateful for these storytellers and the stories they openly shared.
July 15, 2020
This is a collection of stories originally shared by the authors in an open mic setting. They are all fairly short stories, true stories, about key events in people's lives. Like life, some stories are funny and some are heartbreaking or terrifying. All the stories make you appreciate the gifts you have received in your own life and make you wonder if you would be able to live through the events that each of these people have.
This was my first experience with The Moth. But I intent to read the other published collections and check out the pod cast.
This was my first experience with The Moth. But I intent to read the other published collections and check out the pod cast.
December 19, 2017
Love The Moth and would so love to see a live show. What gems.
February 10, 2024
I first became aware of The Moth because someone I deeply admire did a story with them. Learning about their mission has made me a fan and All These Wonders was my first foray into their published work.
Filled with heartbreak, humor, devastation, and love, what made these stories hit so heavily was the underlying knowledge that they all Happened. This was not some fiction short story collection or compilation. These were real people with real stories who found a way to move through them and share them with others. Though there were times I had to put it down for a few days after a particularly dark moment, ultimately All These Wonders was laced with beauty, hope, and sincere humanity, which is why I could never stop reading it.
Wonderfully done and edited, organized by theme - a fine nod to their live shows - and filled with every human emotion, The Moth Presents: All These Wonders is absolutely...
5 stars
Filled with heartbreak, humor, devastation, and love, what made these stories hit so heavily was the underlying knowledge that they all Happened. This was not some fiction short story collection or compilation. These were real people with real stories who found a way to move through them and share them with others. Though there were times I had to put it down for a few days after a particularly dark moment, ultimately All These Wonders was laced with beauty, hope, and sincere humanity, which is why I could never stop reading it.
Wonderfully done and edited, organized by theme - a fine nod to their live shows - and filled with every human emotion, The Moth Presents: All These Wonders is absolutely...
5 stars
June 13, 2017
I loved, loved, loved this collection of stories. There were so many amazing ones - I can forgive the editors for including some not so great ones. You'd read some of the stories and be captivated by the story...and then you'd read about the author and you'd be even more amazed. I've got to get out there and start making my mark on the world.
Here are 3 of my favorite points from 3 different storytellers:
"Just walk fearlessly into the house of mourning, for grief is just love squaring up to its oldest enemy. And after all these mortal human years, love is up to the challenge." (p.31)
"I'm practically nothing, and soon I'll cease to be. But the certainty of my own demise, the certainty of my own death, somehow makes my life more meaningful, and I think that is as it should be." (p. 47)
"In the deepest, blackest night of despair, if you can get just one pinhole of light...all of grace rushes in." (p. 166)
Here are 3 of my favorite points from 3 different storytellers:
"Just walk fearlessly into the house of mourning, for grief is just love squaring up to its oldest enemy. And after all these mortal human years, love is up to the challenge." (p.31)
"I'm practically nothing, and soon I'll cease to be. But the certainty of my own demise, the certainty of my own death, somehow makes my life more meaningful, and I think that is as it should be." (p. 47)
"In the deepest, blackest night of despair, if you can get just one pinhole of light...all of grace rushes in." (p. 166)
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