My Secret: A PostSecret Book [Hardcover]

Frank Warren (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 24, 2006 | Series: Postsecret

Postsecret.com founder Frank Warren is back with a fresh and compelling companion to his wildly popular Los Angeles Times bestseller, PostSecret. For My Secret, a collectible, paper-over-board book that includes a page of vibrant, decorative stickers, Warren has personally selected never-before-seen anonymous postcards created by teens and college students from across the country. Each card bears an intimate and powerful secret—at turns inspirational, shocking, hilarious, and poetic—that is told through original illustrations, photographs, collages, and other creative means. Sample messages include:

• "I am avoiding you because you are socially below me."
• "I know the truth to the lie my parents tell... "
• "My friends think I was homeschooled. I spent high school in juvi."

A unique and important book that will appeal to both young adults and their parents, My Secret offers a raw and revealing glimpse into the real lives of today's teens and twentysomethings. Choosing their own handmade postcards over email or text messages, teens and college students express their hopes, fears, and wildest confessions in a way that truly represents their diverse personalities and voices.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At the beginning of 2005, Frank Warren launched a new blog called PostSecret as an experiment in community art, inviting strangers to mail him anonymous postcards that made art out of their innermost secrets and then posting a selection of the cards every week on his blog. Within a year, his blog was one of the five most popular in the world, and his first book, PostSecret, was one of the surprise bestsellers of 2005. My Secret is his second book, a collection of cards from teens and college students--none of which has been shown on the website--that carries the same emotional power and creativity that have made Warren's project a phenomenon.

We are featuring seven postcards from the book here: see two of them on this page, and click on the numbers below to see five more.

Click on the numbers below to see five more postcards from My Secret

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About the Author

Frank Warren is a small business owner who started PostSecret.com as a community art project. Since November 2004 Warren has received more than 150,000 anonymous postcards. The website won two Webby Awards in 2006 and this year was named Weblog of the Year at the Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. The PostSecret project also received a special award from the National Mental Health Association for raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention. Warren lives in Germantown, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Regan; First Edition edition (October 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061196681
• ISBN-13: 978-0061196683
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.6 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Mixed Media
  • #32 in Books > Arts & Photography > Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions
  • #89 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > Art

More About the Author

Hi,

My name is Frank.

And I collect secrets.

Frank Warren is the founder and curator of the PostSecret project, which he started in November 2004, and has now attracted over 100 million viewers. He has received hundreds of thousands of postcards, and has set up a travelling exhibition of the best cards. He lives in Maryland, USA

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars My Secret Should Have Been Kept Just a Little Bit Longer...Could Have been Better December 1, 2006

By Amy Graham

Format:Hardcover

This is the second in an ongoing series of books that are compiled from cards sent to Warren as part of an art project started several years ago. My Secret is filled with postcards of (sometimes) artfully designed or enhanced confessions/secrets that people have sent Warren over the years. Some are silly, some are heartfelt, and others are just heart wrenching...unfortunately, there were a lot in there that didn't move me at all. This second book is significantly shorter than the first book and I didn't actually feel it made as big an impact as the first one. It felt, I guess, rushed...that's the best way I can describe it. I felt like the author was under contract to produce a second book and didn't have the amount or quality of cards he had to choose from in the first book. I still adore the concept and am glad to have read through this one, but I'm doubly glad I got it from the library and didn't shell out the money for it, because I would have been a great deal more disappointed if I'd paid my hard earned money for a less than stellar book. I think it is best purchased as a set, not a stand alone (i.e. With the first one), they'd make great coffee table books and/or discussion group choices. It's a quick read and quite easy enough to read several times in a relatively short period...I finished this in less than an hour and re-read it several days later, just to be sure I got the full impact. Overall, I'd give it a B- simply because the cost of the book doesn't feel equal to the length and content, especially given the size and content of the first book, Postsecret...this means three stars though, when I'd normally only give it two. This book is innovative and interesting enough to warrant the extra star though the quality of the second book clearly does not equal that of the first.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A little disappointing November 18, 2006

By Jessica S.

Format:Hardcover

I'm a huge fan of PostSecret and now own both of the PostSecret books. I thought the first book was AMAZING. I loved every page of it. I was incredibly excited to own My Secret as well. I bought it today and was a little disappointed in the length; a significant 144 pages shorter than the first. I was also a little disappointed with parts of the layout. It seemed to me there were too many enlarged postcards fitting 2 pages as well as quotes considering the length of the book. There could have been a better use for those pages such as more meaningful postcards or additional quotes.

Regardless of my disappointment, I still recommend this book (as well as the website and first book). The postcards and quotes were well chosen. Overall, it was a good investment. Good job, Frank!

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome! October 24, 2006

By Ellie Reasoner

Format:Hardcover

I spent a month waiting to get this book, wondering if by some chance a hand-made card I sent late last spring in was in here. Well, it's not, but that's probably a good thing. Although I should maybe look it over again before I say this, my first reading makes me think this book is even better than the first Post Secret collection that came out months back. The idea that in reading this book and visiting the Post Secret website one is reading confessions from what amounts to the inner world of anonymous people is to me a uniquely interesting thing. Some of the secrets a reader is let in on are profound, some are disgusting and a few are desperately pathetic. The secrets, sent in on postcards that at times reach levels of genuine beauty, cover all subjects, from covert family rivalries, to hidden misdeeds, sexual longings and weighty personal failures, to fears, desires, regrets, and many more sorts of matters. Overall the revealed secrets combine to create a truly valid art form. I enjoy Post Secret, and hope this project continues online and in printed form for years to come. Frank Warren's My Secret is a book well worth its cover price.