Customer Reviews

My Secret: A PostSecret Book

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I was excited to finally get this book in the mail, but I felt unmoved after I looked through it. I sat and read through it all in one sitting like I did with the first book, but it felt as though everything was rushed. The book was lacking in variety and seemed almost repetetive. Some of the secrets really touched me (don't get me wrong), but the overall impact of the book was lukewarm at best. If you haven't yet, I would suggest reading the first book over this one.

This book was did not even come close to being as good as the first one. If you have read the first one, you will be disappointed. This one is considerably shorter. The first book, I spent a good couple of hours pouring over the secrets of strangers. In this book, I spent perhaps on an hour at most before I finished the book entirely. The secrets seem somewhat the same and there is not much diversity overall. There are layout problems like the first one, but they aren't as many...

If you are thinking about buying this book now, wait. You might enjoy it more if you did not spend you money and borrowed it or read it at the bookstore.

I recommend the first book, PostSecret. It is far better, lasts longer, and leaves you wanting more whereas the MySecret leaves you with a slightly weird aftertaste.

I still love Frank Warren, though.

These postcards were collected from highschool and college students. The secrets are bound to be more "silly", since they're from a younger age. Most kids have the same problems, but it doesn't make the inner struggle any less palpable.

Those who naysay obviously forget what it's like to be young. This book is brilliant, much like the first one. Anyone can relate to these secrets.

My Secret is Frank Warren's second collection of PostSecret postcards. To give a quick overview of what this is all about - PostSecret is described as a "community art project" where strangers mail Warren a postcard with a very personal secret which they have never shared with anyone before. The Postcard is typically decorated with some sort of artwork that describes the secret being sent. Every Sunday Warren posts them on his PostSecret blog, but he has also published three collections of the postcards. My Secret: A PostSecret Book is the second of the three collections.

What is first notable about My Secret is that it is quite a bit smaller than PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives. Without measuring or weighing the book, I would suggest that My Secret is approximately half the size. What this means is that there is far less content for your dollar.

The second thing to point out is that some of these postcards may have been recycled from the first volume. I have not confirmed this by comparing the two books side by side, but some of the postcards were suspiciously familiar. If some of them were not reused, they are very similar to the postcards of volume one with mostly the same content.

This may come across as a knock on My Secret, and in a sense it is, but if we look at My Secret as an individual volume standing alone, the second complaint falls away. My Secret is a collection of some funny and heartbreaking secrets that anyone may have sent in. Considering the volume of postcards Warren has received, any of our neighbors may have a postcard on the website or in a book at any given time. This is what is special about the PostSecret project and in turn about each of the collections. Reading these collections tells the reader that he or she is not alone, that other people have felt this way and that the painful experience is not unique and this can be a way to heal. Reading these collections shows us that we all have something extraordinary about us that our friends and family may never guess. While it is the painful ones which may be most remarkable, there are also funny and happy and silly secrets.

It is ultimately impossible to separate My Secret from the other collections and from the PostSecret project as a whole, so I will close by saying this: My Secret is not as strong of a collection as the first volume. It is smaller and somewhat weaker. But, with that said, it is still worth the half hour or and hour which it will take to go through all of the secrets and get a glimpse into the lives of others, and in turn into ourselves.

-Joe Sherry

Post Secret is a great way to let people present their most trying tribulations in a way that is somewhat unique. It could even be argued that psychology, for all its cure-alls, doesn't take full advantage of newer technologies and places like Post Secret really show how much of a person can be wrapped up in an unexpressed sigh. When you think of stress being the #1 killer in the United States and the "unknown" pieces to that puzzle including ideas like secrets, it makes you wonder how much a simple idea really weighs.
In that right, the idea isn't so simple anymore.

In the Post Secret books, the author/web creator takes what he things are the most relevant pieces from the site and compiles them for everyone to see. Its a good effort, too, and one that deserves to be commended. The problem is that this book, unlike the first one, doesn't really have the scope or depth to present all the problems people experience. It is, in fact, more of a young adult reader, taking problems like not fitting in or not feeling pretty and pushing them ahead of problems like finding stamps and a letter in the attic and remembering how you should have written your grandmother before she died. That's not to say that the problems don't have something to say or an audience to address because they do. When reading them I found myself tearing up on some pages, wondering how terrible some of those experiences were. The thing is that the same problems keep occurring, not really giving you the full scope of what the sight accomplishes.
While this isn't what I would call "a failing," I would consider it a blemish and perhaps something to remedy in the coming additions.

For anyone that hasn't read a Post Secret book, they can really make you stop and think about the pain existing in the world. If you have a chance you should pick up the first book and then progress forward, actually bearing the weight of the confessions and seeing what people endure. As a bystander it is amazing to see what people need to say and, as someone who has added to the fray, it works as a remedy for many of the things that ail you.
It comes recommended, albeit less than the first book, with a comment that says that you should really check out the website as well.

I bought the first PostSecret book, and I spent hours paging through it and lent it to all of my friends. So it was a given that I'd snag this one as soon as it came out. The secrets are as wonderful as they were in the first book, but the length of the book leaves something to be desired. I'm a teenager, and between me and three of my friends we could probably come up with more secrets than are in this book. Still, if you're a fan of PostSecret and you liked the first book, it's worth buying to support Frank.

The new PostSecret book is fantastic! I liked it even better than the first one, which I also loved. As the PostSecret project continues to grow, the folks who send in postcards seem to only further explore the possibilities of the form. The new book contains some startling combinations of feeling, story, and image. I find the emotional intimacy of each postcard absolutely beautiful, moving, and inspiring. I'm a real fan of the new book and the entire project!