“A perfect distraction and inspiration, and a collection that begs to be shared. Be warned, though. If you plan to lend out your copy, start out with two. Once it leaves your hands you’ll never see it again.”
—Denver Post (on Not Quite What I Was Planning)
The editors of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning are back with its much-anticipated sequel, It All Changed in an Instant. With contributions from acclaimed authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Wally Lamb, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, and James Frey, and celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Suze Orman, Marlee Matlin, Neil Patrick Harris, Ann Coulter, and Chelsea Handler, It All Changed in an Instant presents a thousand more glimpses of humanity. . . six words at a time. In the vein of the popular Post Secret books, It All Changed in an Instant, in the words of Vanity Fair, “will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists.”
Thousands of people around the world responded to SMITH Magazine's call for six-word memoirs. Following up on the smashing success of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning, here are more memoirs from Sarah Silverman, Junot Diaz, Neil Patrick Harris, Suze Orman, Gay Talese, Tony Hawk, Amy Tan—and hundreds of never-before-published writers.
Funny and bittersweet, witty and wild, or downright tragic, these addictive life stories are both monumental and miniscule. Six-word memoirs have become a globalphenomenon, offering anyone and everyone a telling peek at humanity and a chance to find the writer within.
"Father: ‘Anything but journalism.' I rebelled." —Malcolm Gladwell
"Live man's life in woman's body!" —Diane von Furstenberg
"Met wife at her bachelorette party." —Eddie Matz
"The miserable childhood leads to royalties." —Frank McCourt
"I never checked my lottery ticket." —Casey Burra
"Shiny head. Hippie hair. Shiny head." —Wally Lamb
"Bipolar, no two ways about it." —Jason Owen
"So would you believe me anyway?" —James Frey
"Can't look at heart donor's picture." —Tonia Hall
"Healed with steel, then got real." —Dr. Mehmet Oz
"I still practice my Oscar speech." —Jennifer Labbienti
"I've done it all except hear." —Marlee Matlin
"Six-word memoirs leave book lover speechless."