All About Me [Hardcover]

Philipp Keel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 1998

Is there someone special you'd like to open up to? Do you want to know yourself better? Self-discovery and self-revelation aren't easy. With simple but provocative questions, All About Me is a great tool for self-reflection that spotlights everything your loved ones would be interested to know about you but never thought--or dared--to ask. Such as: Name a friend you should not have kissed. Describe a moment when you achieved absolute happiness. Recall a compliment that made you blush. Write about your most beautiful and your most horrifying memory of your parents. Does a naked photo of you exist?

The wide-ranging questions--from short yes/no's to open-ended ones that probe your psyche--are personal, direct, and addictively fun to answer. The basic specs, including blood type and annual salary, are also covered.

If you've ever wished that you or your loved ones had been born with an operating manual, your wish has been granted. Filled in or left blank, All About Me is a perfect gift for everyone you care about--friends, relatives, mentors, and lovers. Published just in time for Valentine's Day, but also ideal for Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations, birthdays, showers, and weddings, this unique book gives the best present of all: the gift of you.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As you've probably heard before, an unexamined life... may be pretty darn boring. You can remedy that with All About Me, a journal filled with checklists and fill-in-the-blank questions divided into 25 categories, including sexuality, ego, wishes & dreams, opinions, emotions, memories, and choices. What authors have affected you? Do you believe in God? What film can you watch over and over? Ever had sex on an airplane? Do you want to be buried or cremated?

All About Me can serve as a fine tool for improving your self-knowledge; it's also been used by couples who want to get to know each other better, and would make great fodder for getting a party going (especially the question, "Does a photo of you naked exist?"). If you're interested in self-actualization or improving your relationships, you'll find the book fascinating, while anyone just looking for a fun way to spend a rainy day or make a long trip go by faster will be rewarded, too.

From the Inside Flap

Is there someone special you'd like to open up to? Do you want to know yourself better? Self-discovery and self-revelation aren't easy. With simple but provocative questions, All About Me is a great tool for self-reflection that spotlights everything your loved ones would be interested to know about you but never thought--or dared--to ask. Such as: Name a friend you should not have kissed. Describe a moment when you achieved absolute happiness. Recall a compliment that made you blush. Write about your most beautiful and your most horrifying memory of your parents. Does a naked photo of you exist?

The wide-ranging questions--from short yes/no's to open-ended ones that probe your psyche--are personal, direct, and addictively fun to answer. The basic specs, including blood type and annual salary, are also covered.

If you've ever wished that you or your loved ones had been born with an operating manual, your wish has been granted. Filled in or left blank, All About Me is a perfect gift for everyone you care about--friends, relatives, mentors, and lovers. Published just in time for Valentine's Day, but also ideal for Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations, birthdays, showers, and weddings, this unique book gives the best present of all: the gift of you.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; 1st edition (January 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076790205X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767902052
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philipp Keel is currently developing one of his movie scripts. He is the author of All About Me and its millennium edition as well as Look at Me, a collection of his photography. He lives in Zurich and Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sucker for Self Discovery..., December 25, 2000

By 

A Southern Girl in Jersey (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All About Me (Hardcover)

Okay...I admit it, I love things like this. Things that make you look deeper into yourself, to find the person you may or may not be aware existed. I bought this book on a whim, I had some extra time at home for the holidays and decided to spend a part of it "soul-searching." This book was the perfect remedy for that craving. It is interesting, and packed with questions that I would have never thought to ask myself. Upon buying it, I told my boyfriend, sure that he'd roll his eyes at the thought...instead, he was interested, and even willing to participate. Surprisingly, I'm ordering one for him very soon. Also, I'm planning to order it for a very close college friend, since she is interested in this type of thing as well. As we are graduating fairly soon and going our seperate ways I want to give her something to remember me by. The questions are fun, some thought provoking, but all are sure to make you think of something that is very dear to you: family, friends, and yes, yourself. I definitely recommend this for couples who have been a part of each other's lives for some time, even after years together it will show you sides of them you may have never known until now. Also, it makes a great gift for a family member, or close friend that you'd like to offer a sentimental present to that has more personality than a gift certicate.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacking, January 27, 2005

By 

Crystal Glisson "distant goddess" (Bartow, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All About Me (Hardcover)

This is a nice.. beginner journal about the self. It would also make a wonderful present for a teenager or someone who may want a more sillier type of question. It has quite a few questions that are one line answers, and questions to me that don't really seem all that interesting or needed for a true "About My Life" journal fanatic. Silly questions are the "How do you put the toliet paper on" type of questions. It may be a cute gift or research method if your starting to get serious in a relationship and you want to find out some facts about someone. However, if your looking for a journal that you want to be able to fill out, and pass down to generations to get a real sense of who you are, you should look elsewhere.

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kind, Gentle Questions for Self-Knowledge and Connecting, July 15, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: All About Me (Hardcover)

Novelists often decry the loss of self in modern civilization. Rather than reading a book that encourages you to feel alienated, how about using this one to become better acquainted with yourself and others?

In a busy, hustle-bustle lives, there is too little time for human contact. Psychological intimacy becomes all the more valuable. But where to start?

All About Me is a psychological profile of you, after you fill it out. I found it to be a heart-warming experience, to get back in touch with myself . . . especially sides of myself that even I don't see very often. I probably could not have come up with questions that would have worked nearly this well for myself.

Then, I began to think . . . hmmm, what if the people I care about filled out one of these books too? I'll bet they would be thrilled that I cared enough to give them one, and I'm sure to learn lots of great things that will be the basis of many wonderful discussions.

Then, encouraged by the book's introduction, I began to see the possibility of using these questions as part of a parlor game. You could do a sort of round-robin, and explain your answers and expand upon them as you go. That would certainly beat most cocktail and dinner party conversations.

Then, I thought, you could just ask people these questions wherever you find them. They would make great icebreakers and would be very interesting.

I think you get the idea. A single question can be the fulcrum to move the world, or at least your perception of it.

What are the questions about in this book? Just about everything you can imagine: favorites, fruits of your labors, morals, God, opinions, family relations, friends, likes and dislikes, wishes and dreams, emotions (who makes you most happy?), memories, choices, fears (even measurements of them), psyche, your social relationships (called cat and mouse), sexuality, ifs, and views.

The nice thing about the questions is that they are neutral, so you won't feel put on the spot. Instead, they open you up like the petals of a flower in the dewy morning.

Let me leave you with a question. Wouldn't you like to have had a version of this book filled out by your parents and grandparents to remember them by? If you agree, you should do this for your children and grandchildren. If you don't want to share all of these things with them, make your own version that you do want to share.

Banish your stalled thinking about the unavoidability of isolation in the modern world!