Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan: A Review

“Like the padre, said, life is a mystery to be lived. Live your mystery.” – Kelly Corrigan, Tell Me More

I really liked the concept behind Tell Me More. Sitting around their dinner table one night, Corrigan’s family began debating the question: what are the hardest things we have to say to others? The conversation became the inspiration for Corrigan’s book, which includes the 12 hardest (and often most important) things to say. She gives each its own essay and weaves together experiences from her life to illustrate the moments when she realized what really needed to be said, and the moments where she was actually brave enough to make herself say them.

Some of the essays deal with very difficult experiences, like when Corrigan lost both her father and a close friend to cancer in a very short period of time. She writes about both experiences with vulnerability and grace but also with attention to the bigger lessons – how do we move on when we feel profound loss? How do with deal with regret? But the book is also very funny and relatable. The essay, “Yes” is just a list of things Corrigan will always say ‘yes’ to – everything from, “more sleep, more volume, more help” to “breath mints”. In her essay “It’s Like This”, which largely deals with her grief over the loss of her beloved father, she also writes about how she breaks up a fight between her daughters over a T-shirt managing narrowly hanging onto her cool while her husband calmly flips bacon in the kitchen. The insights into Corrigan household dynamics she includes could be any family and this is what makes her writing ring so true. While many of the topics she tackles are profound, she uses self-deprecating humor that keeps her writing from becoming sentimental or preachy. Her writing invites you in, so that you are rooting for her in her struggles to make sense of it all, to own up to her short-comings and to say the hard things. Her stories are really warm and heart-felt. She had me laughing and tearing up on the same page. As I read it I could imagine putting it in the hands of so many friends.

What are you reading this month? I’d love to hear about it.