From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a struggling man, written entirely in lists. Daniel Mayrock’s life is at a crossroads. He knows the following to be true: 1. He loves his wife Jill… more than anything. 2. He only regrets quitting his job and opening a bookshop a little (maybe more than a little) 3. Jill is ready to have a baby. 4. The … Jill is ready to have a baby.
4. The bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent. Dan doesn’t know how to fix it.
5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble.
6. Then Jill gets pregnant.
This heartfelt story is about the lengths one man will go to and the risks he will take to save his family. But Dan doesn’t just want to save his failing bookstore and his family’s finances:
1. Dan wants to do something special.
2. He’s a man who is tired of feeling ordinary.
3. He’s sick of feeling like a failure.
4. He doesn’t want to live in the shadow of his wife’s deceased first husband.
Dan is also an obsessive list maker; his story unfolds entirely in his lists, which are brimming with Dan’s hilarious sense of humor, unique world-view, and deeply personal thoughts. When read in full, his lists paint a picture of a man struggling to be a man, a man who has reached a point where he’s willing to do anything for the love (and soon-to-be new love) of his life.
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It’s not quite enough to say that Twenty-One Truths About Love is original, it is radical and extraordinary. I have no idea how Matthew Dicks made a story comprised entirely of lists feel so human but that’s exactly what this story is: honest, vulnerable, hilarious, and profoundly human.
I enjoyed Matthew Dicks’ Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend because it was different from anything I’d read before. Dicks manages to surprise and delight once again with his newest release, Twenty-one Truths About Love, a novel in list form penned by anxious dad-to-be Daniel Mayrock.
When Daniel quits his job as a teacher to follow his dream of opening a bookstore, he’s confident things will go well. But he soon learns running a business is expensive, and not everyone is as passionate about books as he is. Thus begins Twenty-one Truths About Love.
Stressed about the store, his wife who’s desperate for children when Daniel would really maybe rather not, and how he’ll make enough money to support this theoretical child, Daniel turns to his handy notebook to consider ideas about people, family, money, bank robbery, and more.
With honesty and wit, Daniel gives readers a glimpse into the mind of a would-be dad struggling with his ability to take care of his family. He makes some memorable friends along the way and eventually realizes that his wife doesn’t expect him to be the perfect man and he’ll never be the perfect father — but both these things are okay.
“A person is more than a person. A person is the promise of everything that person can be.”
This is a must-read for any would be parents (mom or dad), and an enjoyable foray into the mind of a good man for anyone else. I laughed, cried, and was unexpectedly blown away.
Clever idea. A story told in lists. Would be a great summer beach read.
Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks is a fresh, humorous exploration of what makes us vulnerable and what makes us responsible, and you can’t help but root for Daniel Mayrock even when he’s at his most mistaken. This is a love story of great pathos and beauty.
Dan makes lists. As a matter of fact, this entire book is made up of lists that expose the characters thoughts, feelings and insecurities. It was a very unique way of presenting the content of this story and I really liked that about it. At first I wasn’t so sure how it was going to work, but in the end, Dan’s lists were more than lists — they were his life. He has insights. He has flaws and isn’t a great communicator. He also has some major financial issues. Some people might say he’s a mess.
But through the lists which he uses as a form of journaling, the reader learns lots about Dan and what’s really in his heart and mind.
If you are a list maker, you may like this book. You will probably relate to Twenty One Truths About Love. Not sure how well it plays for non-list makers (some people just don’t like them!) There’s some interesting twists and turns at the end, and it’s worth reading just for the unique way the story is told. It definitely left an impression on me, and I’m happy to have found this new-to-me author.
An ARC was provided for review.
I received a complimentary advance copy of this title from the publisher.
Have you ever gone into a book 99% sure you were most likely not a good fit for but gave it a try anyhow? That was me and this book. I FREAKING LOVED IT!!! TWENTY-ONE TRUTHS ANOUT LOVE is unlike anything I have ever read or what I would normally gravitate toward. This is fully delivered in lists. That’s right, lists. Date and time stamped. Over the series of a few months the main characters life is detailed in a way that you really connect with him and his world. Parts were funny, some sad, overly deeply realistic and human. This book surprised me in a great way.
Twenty-one Truths About Love is a novel written as a series of daily lists, and sometimes multiple lists in a day. Dan is insecure- as owner of a bookstore and his management of it, of his wife’s love, of his ability to be a good father, about his relationship with his own father. Over the course of a few months, Dan’s financial situation becomes more desperate and Dan becomes more anxious about how to resolve it.
This is a sweet, endearing novel about love, strength, friendship, and relationships. I really enjoyed the majority of the novel, and laughed at many of the observations. I recommend this quick read.
I really should not have picked this up to read. I love lists and my life survives on the to-do lists I make for work. But a whole book written in the form of lists is just plain irritating. Dan is not a character I could relate to…in fact I disliked him intensely. The one positive about this book is that it is a quick read. But other than that, I wouldn’t recommend it unless there is nothing else available for you to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Thank you St. Martins for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Twenty-one Truths About Love
By: Matthew Dicks
REVIEW
I loved this book! Twenty-one Truths About Love is the story of bookstore owner, Dan, and his mid life mental sort of breakdown. He has a pregnant wife, a bookstore teetering on the edge of closure, a really annoying brother and a half planned plan to rob a bingo hall. Dan relays his neuroses in list format, and I initially had my doubts about this approach. Now, after reading the book, I think the lists are brilliant! This is truly an amazing way to tell a story. Who hasn’t made a list or read a list in their lifetime? It’s appealing because just about everyone can relate to lists, and the format is eye catching. I was absolutely hooked after the first page, and I used every spare minute to read. I usually don’t laugh out loud at books, but I did with this one. Dan has a sense of humor I can understand. He is a neurotic, paranoid, intelligent and somewhat unconventional character whose life is a bit out of control. He constantly plans and schemes various ways, some crazy and some legitimate, to solve his problems. Dan’s ideas expand, change and take shape as the story progresses. He learns a lot along the way. At first glance, this book probably seems weird, but give it a chance, and you’ll love it. Twenty-one Truths About Love has a different style and unique voice that I found genuine and entertaining. Read it!
This is a charming read. In terms of its unusual structure, I was perhaps a bit less blown away than some because I read The Call not long ago and it employs a similar conceit. There’s a skillful author at work here and God knows I agree with a lot of his character’s opinions, for instance about people who back into parking spaces, if not Virginia Woolf. I didn’t quite buy every development in the plot, though, and a husband lying to his wife about money … well, I will always have a really hard time with that. That’s a personal quirk that has led me to capriciously docking a star, but this main character should totally understand that. (The author, maybe not so much.) Nonetheless, recommended.
I received an advanced copy of this book. This is an interesting book, it’s written in list form. The lists are all about the main character’s life. I enjoyed the book and it was a super fast read due to its format. This is a very fun read where you learn a lot about the characters in an interesting format.
Daniel Mayrock writes lists. His therapists started him writing them, and he has continued because it is calming. He quit his job as a school teacher and opened a bookstore. The bookstore is not doing well and he is afraid to tell this to his pregnant, widowed wife, Jill. He feels he is constantly striving to measure up to Jill’s dead husband. How can he fix his mess without losing his wife?
This was very interesting to me. At first, I thought, how is it possible that a book of lists can tell a story? I read the first one and put it down, thinking I wouldn’t enjoy it. I picked it back up and gave it another shot and I was surprised. The lists start to progress and you see an enjoyable story building, and you start to feel attached to the characters. Dan makes quite a bit of personal growth throughout the book, which endears him to the reader even more. I’m very glad I gave this book a second chance – it was well worth reading!
When I started reading Twenty-one Truths about Love, I wasn’t a massive fan of it. I mean, a book that is told through lists. I was expecting to DNF it after the first chapter. Then a funny thing happened. I started to get involved with the book. I began to care about Dan. I wanted to know if he was going to carry out his crazy plan. I wanted to see if he would ever contact his father.
I liked Dan. He had his quirks (don’t we all) and was trying to do his best. He also had an excellent sense of humor. But, he was also insecure. He was jealous of his wife’s first husband, who seemed to be a saint. He felt that he couldn’t live up to his brother’s success. He was also the most affected by his mother’s affair, the divorce, and his father not contacting them again.
I laughed my butt off at his plan to get more money. It wasn’t what he was going to do. But it was how he went about doing it. I liked that he turned that episode into something he learned from.
The end of Twenty-one Truths About Love was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I had a huge smile when the book ended. The book that I was sure I wouldn’t like ended up being a fantastic book!!
Dan has so much to worry about. He has changed jobs. As a matter of fact, he has quit his job and opened a book store. He is constantly worried about money and if his wife knows how broke they really are. He is worried about his wife’s first husband. Does Dan measure up to this guy…and on and on. Dan copes with these many worries by making lists….tons of lists.
This is a unique read, basically because of the format. The whole book is lists…Lists about his marriage, lists about his job, lists about lists. This did get a little old after a while, but it is quirky and funny enough to keep you reading. There really were so many places I laughed out loud. But, the format did throw me off a bit.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
What an original and refreshing read!! I love Twenty-one Truths About Love!!!
Daniel Mayrock makes lists throughout each day. The lists can consist of important things, mundane musings, random questions, personal observances; anything and everything might appear. The entire story is told through Dan’s lists (kudos to Matthew Dicks for such an original idea!).
Through his lists, we see an every man trying to sort out his life and come to terms with his life. He dearly loves his wife, Jill, who was a widow prior to marrying Dan. Jill wants a baby, Dan’s not sure he’s ready to be a father or that they can afford a child. He left teaching to open a bookstore, and it is in financial trouble, but Dan doesn’t want Jill to know that – he fears disappointing her, and her comparing him unfavorably to her first husband, Peter. His father left the family when Dan was a young boy. His father has since tried to reconnect through letters he writes to his son, but Dan is still deeply wounded by his father’s desertion and hasn’t read any of the letters yet. He deeply wants to BE someone, to do something important, to be more than ordinary.
This book is endearing, poignant, relatable, laugh-out loud funny and one heck of a good read! Don’t miss this one!! Matthew Dicks, I’m already looking forward to reading your next book!
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
If you’ve ever wondered if a book comprised completely of lists would work, Matthew Dicks has proven that it does. This book is a breath of fresh air. Easy to read–but packing plenty of heart–I found myself wanting to highlight every other line and laughing out loud. And I might have even been crying at the end.
What I loved. In lists, of course:
1. Dan is a complex narrator who is self-deprecating and emotional (i.e., human).
2. Dan quit his job to open a book store.
3. Dan cries.
4. Dan is not afraid to admit he loves his wife more than anything in the world. Repeatedly.
5. Dan is funny.
6. I might be in love with Dan.
7. Oh, and I love the Book of the Month lists! Books mentioned in books equals bonus points.
This is a perfect book to cleanse your pallet. One of those books to read after you’ve finished a beast of a book. (Like The Goldfinch, for instance.) I would most assuredly read more from this author, and even reread this one.
Matthew Dicks’ Twenty-one Truths About Love did not make my list of favorites. IMO the list concept was not cohesive and was very hard to follow.