Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
16th out of 157 books
—
35 voters
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
by
Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)
Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can’t pay the bills—and it can be great: you’ve had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the courage to write your novel. Sugar—the once-anonymous online columnist at The Rumpus, now revealed as Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling memoir Wild—is the person thousands t...more
ebook, 304 pages
Published
July 10th 2012
by Vintage
(first published January 1st 2012)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
I wound up having slightly mixed feelings about this book. Other reviewers have already pointed out that Strayed spends far more time telling her own stories than offering any advice; the columns lose some of their punch without the comments; and, when gathered all in one place so they're read one after the other after the other, rather than spaced out over weeks or months, they tend to pall (the endearments like "sweet pea" especially start to grate). There's no question that Strayed is a real...more
"There is no cure except to live the hell out of our lives, to take it apart, to put it back together, to dig it all up, and then fill the hole. To help ourselves and one another to the best of our abilities. To believe everything entirely, while also calling bullshit for what it is." - Cheryl Strayed as Dear Sugar on The Rumpus.
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS: ADVICE ON LOVE AND LIFE FROM DEAR SUGAR by Cheryl Strayed (2012) contains letters and advice first published in The Rumpus. About the time her fi...more
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS: ADVICE ON LOVE AND LIFE FROM DEAR SUGAR by Cheryl Strayed (2012) contains letters and advice first published in The Rumpus. About the time her fi...more
Warning: this review contains a lot of sperm.
So, a while back I was thousands of miles from home, lying on the guest bed in an all-wood flat on the second story of converted stables, a quick skip from a church that’s about 400 years older than my home country. I had my feet propped up on the wall, and an Instead Cup full of sperm stuck up inside me. I was tripping on some pretty serious adrenaline. Half of it was left over hilarity from an hour before when the originator of the sperm . . . misse...more
So, a while back I was thousands of miles from home, lying on the guest bed in an all-wood flat on the second story of converted stables, a quick skip from a church that’s about 400 years older than my home country. I had my feet propped up on the wall, and an Instead Cup full of sperm stuck up inside me. I was tripping on some pretty serious adrenaline. Half of it was left over hilarity from an hour before when the originator of the sperm . . . misse...more
Holy wow of all things good, this book should be a must read for all writers, thinkers, and humans trying to do more than simply eek out their existence.
I am so not an advice/self-help book kind of girl. I'm barely a memoir kind of girl, though there are some notable exceptions. But this book is all and none of the above. It's a genre-bending masterpiece.
Sugar sees the buried questions and stories and fears and desires embedded in the advice-seekers' narratives and lifts them in all their sad...more
I am so not an advice/self-help book kind of girl. I'm barely a memoir kind of girl, though there are some notable exceptions. But this book is all and none of the above. It's a genre-bending masterpiece.
Sugar sees the buried questions and stories and fears and desires embedded in the advice-seekers' narratives and lifts them in all their sad...more
This is not going to be the review I expected to write. First: in fall 2010, a friend told me about "Write Like a Motherfucker" as we walked across Central Park after a writing group. Then: another friend and I would email on Thursdays right after the columns would post ("are you crying right now?"). I never had an urge to know Sugar's name because I knew who Sugar was and what I didn't know I filled in with what I knew about myself. The magic of Cheryl's writing is in the "me too"-ness of it, h...more
**Dear Sugar serves sweet satisfaction**
If I were to have written Sugar (aka Cheryl Strayed) for a recommendation to satisfy my recent book craving, I imagine the question-response exchange might have gone something like this:
Dear Sugar,
I’m looking for a book about real people and real life. One that’s not too heavy a read, but offers profound insights* sprinkled amongst the everyday relatable context. One that reflects what life’s really about—pain, joy, and everything in between—and new persp...more
If I were to have written Sugar (aka Cheryl Strayed) for a recommendation to satisfy my recent book craving, I imagine the question-response exchange might have gone something like this:
Dear Sugar,
I’m looking for a book about real people and real life. One that’s not too heavy a read, but offers profound insights* sprinkled amongst the everyday relatable context. One that reflects what life’s really about—pain, joy, and everything in between—and new persp...more
Eagerly awaiting this book. I have a collection of Dear Sugar columns that I have printed off The Rumpus website--- my favorite words of advice, support and love Sugar has given to ALL of us.
I loved this book. I never read any Dear Sugar columns online before, but now I want to read them all. The advice is tender and gut wrenching all at the same time.
Sometimes, when an author is all the rage, I'll read a book by said author and not enjoy it. This happens often. Sometimes, trying to understand the hype, I'll try another book by the author. That's my story when it comes to Cheryl Strayed. At least I can say I have an informed opinion when I say that I whole-heartedly disagree with the hype?
First, if Strayed's advice column under her alias of Sugar is helping people, that's great. Really, it is. That's important.
But, I wouldn't turn to this wo...more
First, if Strayed's advice column under her alias of Sugar is helping people, that's great. Really, it is. That's important.
But, I wouldn't turn to this wo...more
I loved this book from start to finish. The advice she gives in these columns is brutally honest and reflective of her life experiences, which I thoroughly enjoyed learning about. Her writing style is easy to read and I love the dashes of profanity she sprinkles in there. Reading this book shook me in the most visceral way that I had a hard time putting it down. And when I did put it down, I had a hard time not thinking about it. It is an excellent read but I wouldn't recommend this book to ever...more
This book is so much more than a collection of advice columns. This is a wallop of timeless beauty, grace, and no-BS life stories. The people who write in to Sugar/Cheryl ask for help with love, life, death, money, and various other struggles and we (her voyeuristic readers) simply sit back and watch the advice (usually wrapped in some personal, wonderful, intense anecdote) utterly destroy our stoic will not to cry. Favorites include: Like An Iron Bell, How You Get Unstuck, The Baby Bird, Thwack...more
I crave vulnerability in my books. I want the characters, or in this case, the author to bare their souls for the world. I'm always amazed and confused at people's ability to be so transparent and raw. As a result, most of my favorite books are characterized by intense vulnerability. It is these books that I reread constantly and recommend to countless others. It's as if I'm saying I'll never be this open, but look these people can be, and they feel what I'm feeling.
That is why I love Tiny Beau...more
That is why I love Tiny Beau...more
I just finished this collection of advice columns that I found evocative, touching, enlightening and humbling. I felt drawn into each person's dilemma, and found myself thinking about how I would possibly advise them on how to proceed, many times surrendering to myself that I had absolutely no clue, and wondered how Sugar would ever find the right words. But she did, and time and again, column after column she doled out words that were kind, consoling, astute and beyond powerful. I adored this...more
I loved her memoir "Wild." The more I read of Cheryl Strayed, the more her writing reminds of me of Mary Karr's: Sensitive, yet surly. Tender, yet tough as nails. Poetic, yet potty-mouthed. "Dear Sugar" is a collection of letters from her advice column on therumpus.net. Part memoir, part self-help book, she answers complex, layered questions, often citing her own life experiences. Her advice was honest, thoughtful, motivational, and funny... just to list of few of many adjectives that could be u...more
I like Strayed. She's someone I would like to go out and have dinner and a drink with.
In most cases, I like her advice. I just find it takes her a LONG, long time to get to it sometimes. She weaves a lot of her personal experience and stories in, which is great, but I did, on a few occasions, forget what the original question was.
I think Strayed's best work probably isn't advice columns, but I do look forward to more from her.
In most cases, I like her advice. I just find it takes her a LONG, long time to get to it sometimes. She weaves a lot of her personal experience and stories in, which is great, but I did, on a few occasions, forget what the original question was.
I think Strayed's best work probably isn't advice columns, but I do look forward to more from her.
I think I liked this book even more than Wild. It was more raw and unscripted as to who she was,and she was doing it simultaneously by helping others. Never have I read a more thorough advice column. She pours her heart and soul into each thoughtful response, some of which brought tears to my eyes. Her response to the man who lost his son, and who was so upset he had to number his story and she in turn numbered her response, brought me to my knees. Her writing is amazing. Highly recommend. Read...more
This is a compilation of Cheryl Wild's advice columns,published on the internet as 'Dear Sugar'. Dear Sugar was part of an online literary magazine and forum, and it shows. Wild's advice is littered with the kind of breathtakingly simple writing which takes so much skill and yet seems so effortless.
As readers of her book 'Wild' will know, Cheryl Strayed had a hard life and she uses her experiences to give opinions on other people's problems without seeming tawdry or delving too far into "misery...more
As readers of her book 'Wild' will know, Cheryl Strayed had a hard life and she uses her experiences to give opinions on other people's problems without seeming tawdry or delving too far into "misery...more
Collection of her advice columns from The Rumpus, a literary site I seldom check, so these were mostly new to me. They read surprisingly well back-to-back. I could imagine not liking some advice columnists in mega-doses given that their repetitions would get old (e.g., Carolyn Hax's tic of recommending that everyone read The Gift of Fear), but in this instance it worked well.
Compassionate and funny but can be frank in telling people what they should do, often stuff they seem to already know but...more
Compassionate and funny but can be frank in telling people what they should do, often stuff they seem to already know but...more
I came to Dear Sugar, along with many others, through the WTF letter:
Dear Sugar,
WTF, WTF, WTF?
I'm asking this question as it applies to everything every day.
Best,
WTF
That got my attention. Because I look around me every day and ask that quesiton too. In fact, I think this is probably the general idea behind everyone's questions to God, their diary, their therapist, their best friend, or the advice columnist of their choice.
These letters to Sugar might not specifically apply to your own situation,...more
Dear Sugar,
WTF, WTF, WTF?
I'm asking this question as it applies to everything every day.
Best,
WTF
That got my attention. Because I look around me every day and ask that quesiton too. In fact, I think this is probably the general idea behind everyone's questions to God, their diary, their therapist, their best friend, or the advice columnist of their choice.
These letters to Sugar might not specifically apply to your own situation,...more
The human life is filled with so many idiosyncrasies -- so many variations of the basics -- love, hate, anxiety, loneliness, joy, enlightenment, power struggles, etc. etc. etc..... Dear Sugar sifts through the emotions of the letters she receives and deciphers the common denominators of us all -- because no matter how alone we sometimes feel there is someone else out there in the big, wide world going through something very, very similar. Dear Sugar makes those connections and understands that w...more
Okay, so neither the language nor the subject matter are appropriate for young ears/eyes. In fact, the material published in this kaleidoscope of human malfeasance is at times raw, wrenching, maddening, and sorrowful, but then, the advice columnist at the heart of this masterful work is answering the petitions of some seriously wounded individuals.
Strayed has an innate ability to answer the queries of her readers with blunt honesty and tact, as odd as that paring might seem. She takes on questi...more
Strayed has an innate ability to answer the queries of her readers with blunt honesty and tact, as odd as that paring might seem. She takes on questi...more
I think the criticism that Strayed includes too much about herself in her responses is a little off-base. I understand that when a friend comes to you and says "Something terrible happened to me," it's not compassionate or helpful to say "Boy, me too! Let me tell you about my troubles." But this is a different situation entirely, and the stories Strayed tells illuminate her advice in a way that is clarifying and helpful.
Somebody asking "WTF, WTF, WTF? I'm asking this question as it applies to e...more
Somebody asking "WTF, WTF, WTF? I'm asking this question as it applies to e...more
In Tiny Beautiful Things, Strayed brings together a collection of the best letters from her “agony aunt” column, her internet-based advice column at TheRumpus.net. Using the pen name Sugar, Strayed responds to letters from readers suffering everything from loveless marriages to abusive, drug-addicted brothers, from disfiguring illnesses to coping with losing a loved one - all the problems that people have suffered, from time immemorial. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be do...more
Cheryl Strayed, author of "Wild", wrote an online advice column and this is a collection of letters and her responses to them. At the outset she admits that she has no qualifications in psycho-therapy or counseling or anything that would give her authority to help people with their problems. This is an insignificant fact. The advice that she gives comes from a kind and wise soul and she dispenses humor and good common sense as well as compassion. i just couldn't get enough of it. I had the audio...more
Although this is ostensibly a collection of letters from an online advice column, it is so much more than that. Cheryl Strayed is wise, funny, brutally honest, touching, and sympathetic. She uses personal narratives to support her advice, and she does not hold back. She is also not like many other advisers, in that she actually gives advice. Practical, no-nonsense advice. Advice that may not be easy to swallow or follow, but advice that is genuine and rational. Some things she said struck all th...more
once again, i wish goodreads offered half-stars, because this is maybe more like three & a half stars for me. i read this almost a month ago & am still wrapping my mind around what i thought of it...which is a very good thing! so often, i read a book & it completely falls out of my head a day later. how many reviews have i written here where i have had to admit, "i don't remember anything about this book"? too many.
this is a collection of advice columns. i always think i like advice...more
this is a collection of advice columns. i always think i like advice...more
I picked up "Tiny Beautiful Things" after having recently read Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Even though I've read advice columns throughout my life, beginning with Ann Landers and Dear Abby as a kid, I was not sure how a book of collected advice queries and replies could be very interesting or compelling, but I loved Strayed's writing in "Wild," and so I gave this a shot.
She writes to a woman who miscarried her baby; to a woman who discovered her...more
She writes to a woman who miscarried her baby; to a woman who discovered her...more
When I started reading this book, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I devoured the first few letters and responses and thought I would recommend it to a couple of people who are definitely not into advice columns or any touchy-feely conversations at all. I got over that impulse eventually and read the book more slowly after that but I still think the foreword is pretty accurate in that "We need books, and Cheryl's books in particular, because we are all, in private kingdom of our hearts, desper...more
i love reading advice columns. Prudie, Cary Tennis, Miss Manners. i wish i had known that Strayed/Sugar was writing an advice column when she was still writing it--i would have been refreshing that page rabidly when each new column was due.
why? because Strayed is such a fabulous writer, and such a warm, generous, compassionate, thoughtful, funny, no-bullshit person. how do i know that? because i read, and still haven't gotten over, her autobiography Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest...more
why? because Strayed is such a fabulous writer, and such a warm, generous, compassionate, thoughtful, funny, no-bullshit person. how do i know that? because i read, and still haven't gotten over, her autobiography Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest...more
This is a collection of advice column letters and responses, but it's not really just advice column letters and responses. Each response is a personal essay in itself, filled with more clarity and wisdom than it seems fair for one seemingly unremarkable (by which I only mean down-to-earth and relatably "normal," not lacking in talent in any way) woman to express. I marveled at Cheryl Strayed's "Wild," so I probably should have expected as much, but it caught me by surprise anyway.
I got this one...more
I got this one...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, Wild, will be published by Knopf in March 2012. It will also be published in Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Her novel, Torch (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books of the year by writers from the Pacific Northwest. Strayed’s writing has appeared i...more
More about Cheryl Strayed...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Don't surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn't true anymore.”
—
98 people liked it
“I'll never know, and neither will you of the life you don't choose. We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was important and beautiful and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore.”
—
74 people liked it
More quotes…
Dec 18, 2012 10:17pm
Feb 03, 2013 12:38pm