Customer Reviews

A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Have you ever told a stranger something that no one else knows about you? I often think that's the main purpose of sitting on long airplane flights: Confiding in strangers makes secret burdens emotionally lighter.

Frank Warren obviously understands that point and provides a needed outlet for those who can't even tell a stranger . . . but feel comfortable sending in a postcard with their secret on it. I'm sure thousands of people are walking a little lighter.

Much like watching a film of a disaster, you'll be counting your blessings as you review these often deeply painful admissions. In that way, your own secrets won't seem so heavy. I suspect that those with unshared secrets can benefit from both sharing and reading what others have shared. Many thanks to Frank Warren for coming up with this unique form of self-therapy.

It would be fascinating to ask people in a few years to send in another postcard to describe how sending the original one affected their lives.
One of the last postcards in the book explores that point: "i used to write my secrets on postcards that were never posted now i tell them to real people that know and care about me thanks, postsecret and goodbye"

My main caution is that I'm not sure how someone who is severely depressed and suicidal might react to this book. Some of the postcards reflect that condition, and someone inclined that way might find encouragement in reading what others have said.

From the point of view of wanting to understand others better, I was glad to learn about some secrets people hide that I wasn't aware of. I'll be more careful in the future about what I say on those subjects.

As I read the postcards, I was reminded of a seminar I attended two years ago where I met a man who told me his family had never celebrated his birthday and no one had hugged him in almost 20 years. Naturally, everyone took turns hugging him, and we held an impromptu birthday celebration. He looked like a new man.

I pray that those who sent in these postcards will enjoy years of unexpected hugs.

It's not all sadness. Some of the secrets are meant to be humorous. Others aren't all that serious . . . but will touch your heart nevertheless.

This book has an unusual history. It began as a community where people were encouraged to send in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. The key word - Anonymous. This struck a chord in many, allowing them a way to let loose a wealth of pent-up emotions and desires, from funny to grotesque. It also struck a chord in people who read the Blog site and watched videos of some of the secret scenarios.
From there, a series of books has emerged and this is the latest. Think of it - starting from anonymous postcards to build into a popular Blog and now this book.
Okay, I'm sure you want to know about the secrets in the book. Writing from a personal perspective, I got vicarious satisfaction from reading about urges that some people had (for revenge or to satisfy a desire) that I'd also shared. People wrote of having affairs for revenge, of unrequited love, of taking LSD at Disneyland and having sheer terror.
One of the most amazing things about this book? How touching it can be to read of all the hidden emotions that people rarely feel comfortable talking about -even to their closest friends. It is a confession, of sorts, sent out to the world. Some people have come forward and told me of postcards they've sent and of how "relieved" or "lighter" they'd felt afterwards so I think my confession analogy isn't off base - in some instances.
This is a fascinating and evolving community and project and the book is a rare chance to get a glimpse of what is often hidden behind social conventions. I urge you to have a look at this one!

Until I read this book, I only knew PostSecret from Frank Warren's blog which is on my weekly must-read list. I had resisted buying the previous books in the series because so often what's intriguing a few at a time becomes cloying when presented in a book.

This was not the case with A LIFETIME OF SECRETS: A POSTSECRET BOOK. I couldn't put it down until I'd read it through, and it left me feeling introspective and deeply connected.

For those not familiar with PostSecret, it began as a community art project in which Frank Warren ("America's most trusted stranger") invited people to send in secrets on decorated postcards. Every week he posts twenty of these anonymous postcards on his blog, PostSecret.com; a collection has traveled internationally as an art exhibit; and this is the fourth book of collected secrets.

So many heart-rending postcards! People share their alienation, anger, fear, desire, and even pride. Why do they send their secrets to Frank? Would you? Have you? I haven't (and won't), but something about the secrets has huge sympathetic appeal. There's nothing new in human nature and we all carry the seeds of all these secrets. Some resonate in us more than others, but can you really say that any of the feelings expressed are completely alien?

A LIFETIME OF SECRETS is the fourth book in the series. It's arranged roughly by the age of the secret-sharer, and this theme is certainly effective; you can, however, open it to any page and count on feeling a sense of kinship with the writer. I hope to keep this book for a while and will probably turn its pages many times. It's inevitable that some day I'll hear a friend mention something and I'll say, there's this book I HAVE to share with you; and they'll share it with someone else and I'll never see it again. And that's as it should be. (My secret: I hardly ever return books people lend me!)

This is the second PostSecret book I have purchased- I owned the first and now A Lifetime of Secrets has been added to double my collection. I highly recommend this book. It holds secrets that have not been posted on the web and is organized in such a meaningful way that the cards relate to each other. I think there is something about holding the book, seeing the color printed gives me a much closer feel of what the cards would look like if I was able to hold them. The final card of the book shows the wise worn hands of a woman in a wheelchair and reads "It all passes so quickly." This book captures secrets from young to old. These beautiful cards are a rare chance to look into the private parts of others that let us know we are all human, we all hurt, we all want to love and be loved and we can all share in sharing these secrets. There are a few email messages published in the book on solid black pages between the wealth of mailed postcards- the first of these email messages is from a person who wrote down a secret and left it in a Frank Warren book. Now I'm inspired to leave an extra secret for someone to find. This book is excellent and is sure to be the start of many life stories and found secrets.

This book makes you think, it is deep, but very REAL. It is a mesmerizing book that you can't put down. It is also a great gift for those people that are hard to get a gift for.

I've been reading the PostSecret blog ever since its debut, i guess... And i kind of remember the feeling it gave me the first time i read it or understood the proposal of the website. It was like, revealing. I could feel this awkwardness of getting so deep in touch with strangers, trough their secrets, a very surprising intimacy. It was really good, very moving.
But as it happens in every aspect of life, after i became a constant visitor to the blog, i gradually lost that surprise effect and got used to that expected level of emotion... Even though i still loved the site, it became usual to me.
Then i got this book. It's the first one i've got. As i went through its pages i felt that primary feeling growing back inside me. The arrangement of secrets along a timeline, covering a whole lifetime, gave the chance to watch the growth of a person, sometimes myself. Near the end there was this strange impression that i had a child, who i watched grow old, loved, understood and identified with myself, as if we had spent our lives together, gone through loving, funny, scary and sad moments, and moved on. Through these time steps i could feel again that first surrender emotion, as if i had given myself completely to another person. I can only imagine what it feels like to those who actually share a secret.
It really is a great book, even with such few words... Which, actually, with the help of the personal artwork, brings a level of "straightness" that rarely appears on real books. The story (there is, indeed, a story) seems much more real and tangible than many novels, and this ability to see ourselves in those secrets is key to this book. That's what moves us so much.
Now that i've fully read it (which didn't take long, being so compelling), the book lays on my coffe table just waiting for me to want to remember. It kinda works now as a family album. Whenever i feel nostalgic i can open it and take me to my memories. It'll even take me to the future!
Well... I hope that whoever reads this gets to understand my english. And if you already like the blog and is thinking about getting this book, i trully recommend it! ;D

This is the coolest book!!!!

This is a book of peoples secrets. The book is made to be an easy read. Full of peoples doodles (thoughts).

The book is very visual, all the secrets (doodles) are put over pictures that describe the feelings behind the secret.

After reading this book I felt very human. I would recommend this book for all to read.

Jeanna : )

I totally loved this book. I discovered Frank Warren and his "Secrets" books by watching the news one day. I went to the store and bought the last two published "Secrets" books. (I think there are four of them altogether.) They were totally awesome. I've been taking them to work, and passing them around to my coworkers. All of my office mates love them. These secrets are so deep and profound, that it's impossible to read just one. I read the whole book in one sitting.

My favorite secret: I envy the willpower of anorexics. Wow! Says a lot, and definitely will spark conversation.

What an awesome coffee table book!

This book is delightful and moving. I love the artwork of the postcards and will go back again and again to just browse through them. The personal messages on each card are beautiful - some tragic and some funny but all very human. After I read this book I felt that we are not alone with our problems and struggles. We all have things that make us feel sad or ashamed.

OK... I've now gone through all the PostSecret books at our library with the completion of A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren. As you might be able to tell, there's a bit of a theme on this one. Warren has created a compilation of his PostSecret items ranging from submissions from the very young to the quite-a-bit older. It goes to show that secrets and regrets cut across our entire lifetime, and age doesn't necessarily make them any less or more painful or funny.

The book starts out with secrets that many of us have had or experienced at some time in our adolesence... "I love him. He loves her."; "Dad, I can do anything... as long as your working by me."; "I wonder if my dad ever thinks 'I'm home' when he pulls in the driveway to get me here at my moms."; "I wasted my childhood trying to be grown-up. Now I'm a teenager and it sucks." Secrets drift through the middle years... (Over a drawing of a singer on stage) "When you said I wasn't good enough to be your girlfriend, I used it as my inspiration. Congratulations @sshole, you're famous."; (over a picture of a female archeologist) "I hope that someday he'll bury an engagement ring in the dirt for me to find!"; "Just because I try not to talk about it... does not mean I'm over it, that I feel better, or that I'm ever going to be okay. I just don't want to be a burden."; "I wish I could be someone's hero." As the book winds down, you hear the voice of old age opening up their soul... "Today is my 64th birthday. No one but me knows how lucky I am and how content and happy I feel!"; "I'm 52, male, single and childless. I've played my part in four abortions and a miscarriage. All I ever wanted was a family."; "I will die alone and happy."

About halfway through this book, I started thinking... what if one of these secrets had been written by someone about me? It makes you slow down just a bit when you wonder if you've been responsible for someone's pain, if you've injured someone without thinking, or if you've been the secret longing of someone who never had enough courage to speak up. That whole mindset added yet another layer of feeling over the things I read. I'm sorry to have finished the books, as I had quite the emotional impact from them. And I find that getting in touch with feelings like that is all too uncommon in my life.