To Be Honest is a refreshing account of one man's journey navigating life attempting to be as honest as possible.
Michael's childhood at times to me felt a little bit sad - although I am are this wasn't meant to be the case, I still struggled with the reality that his mother didn't want him to be introduced to the concept of Santa. Despite this, his grandmother still took him to meet Santa, recounting his meeting with his mother, she implores him not to tell the other children in kindergarten who still 'believe.'' This is an example of what I found a bit sad, along with Micheal's Dad not taking it easy on a four year old Michael when he was introduced to Chess.

Discounting this, the memoir is very critically honest and at times I laughed out loud - the teenage years are particularly dry and amusing.

To Be Honest is an interesting and amusing read.

The odd little memoir of a family of the radically honest. It was if the author grew up in a tiny cult, they behaved so outside of societal norms with their obsession with being honest. Unlike some memoirs, Leviton really showed how his family and his upbringing affected his adult life. I did sort of wonder if his parents were both on the autism spectrum but that was never explored. I felt like that would explain a lot.

I'm glad I stumbled upon this wonderful e-ARC on NetGalley. Thank you Abrams Press for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.

"To Be Honest" starts at the beginning, about Michael's upbringing in a family where honesty was deemed the only way to live and where white lies were frowned upon and his wanderings into a world where the exact opposite was the norm. As a kid, he was honest to the point that it made people uncomfortable, angry and/or disgusted with him. People of his age didn't understand his unnatural philosophy. The only place where he felt understood was within the four walls of his home, and at family therapy camp.

As he started evolving into a teenager, his opinions supporting the logicality of honesty became even more stronger. “Being honest was equivalent to caring for someone, because if you really cared for someone, why would you lie to them?”

But later as he grew up and moved to New York to make a career, he realised that this prominent trait of his was seen as a liability by job recruiters. And that, coupled with no real job experience, only managed to land him furious looks and angry outbursts instead of a job.

Eventually, he managed to insert himself into the music scene by attending open-mics. He met a couple of like-minded people and got by. But then came the next phase of life that every 20-something is excited about and dreads at the same time: the relationship phase.

“To Be Honest” isn’t only about this unusual father-son relationship, a family of honest weirdos, it’s about relationships in general. The other one, prominently covered in the memoir is the relationship the author shared with Eve, the one which eventually taught him that being honest all the time may not be a good idea, the one which when it ended (it was going to, as admitted by the author at the start of the relationship) gave him a chance to go look at the other side of why people told white lies and why people frowned upon him when he spoke his mind.

What I liked about the book is the ‘matter-of-fact’ tone with which it was written. The narration is honest. And while all memoirs are honest by definition, this one seems just a notch above the rest. There are various aspects of social interactions described in excruciating detail in this book, which for a socially awkward person like me, seemed like an encyclopaedia of ‘why people behave the way they do’.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a book which highlights the nuances of communicating with strangers and lovers, the debate about whether etiquette is a necessary evil or just a plain old divide between the sophisticated and the ones with no means to learn how to be sophisticated and how you too can balance the tightrope of being honest or saying “Let’s meet again!” and never meeting them ever again.

This was an entertaining read and definitely different from any kind other kind of memoir I have ever read. Leviton's parents were brutally honest to the point where they came off as rude and kind of odd. In turn, this made Leviton come off the same way. This is a thought provoking read even though I did struggle in staying interested with it. I just found it hard to empathize with Michael. It's interesting to see how it shaped him as he grew up and his experiences along the way. This really makes you think about the fine lines between lying and telling the truth - when it is or isn't okay to lie. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advanced copy!

The protagonist is the son of narcissistic, sociopathic parents who raise him to be honest no matter what. There are no boundaries in the family. The son is unable to maintain a job and his relationships all flounder. His parents' commitment to truthtelling really belies their own self-involvement and inability to be honest with themselves. Very confusing and troubling book, and written without passion.

To Be Honest follows Michael as someone raised in a family where honesty was the main policy, and the impact this honesty has had in his life.

I absolutely loved this book.

As someone who has been brought up in a similar upbringing, I immediately felt attracted to this book. As strange as it may sound, this philosophy is followed by a lot of people. Think of that person at work who's always blunt in the name of efficiency or that friend who will tell you to your face that yes, you look fat in that dress. They aren't being rude for the sake of being rude: they've been brought up to be honest!

If you too have been raised to believe telling the smallest white lie means you're a bad person, read this book! Not only will you laugh remembering al the faux-pass but you could also see it as a self-help book. If you know someone who's a little too blunt in the name of being truthful, gift them this book! Likewise, if you're curious about why some people seem to grimace when they are being polite to someone, To Be Honest will give you the answer.

All in all, a fantastic read,

Disclosure: I'd like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader's copy. This is my honest review.

https://jemimareads.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jemimareadsofficial

A book about honesty a book that asks the question how much honesty is too much.The authors parents were honest to an extreme .He was brought up to be the same no polite lies no concern for others feeling just honesty.As he grows we follow the effect this has on his life , his relationships.
A really interesting book a book that will make you think about always being truthful never protecting someone’s feelings always truth and the consequences,#netgalley#abramsbooks