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411th out of 1,210 books
—
6,528 voters
Dear Everybody
Tracing the nuances of a short-lived life, this involving and sympathetically writtennovel maintains a tone of finely judged tension between laughter and tears. Jonathon Bender had something to tell the world, but the world wouldn’t listen. However, he left behind him unsent letters addressed to relatives, friends, neighbors, coaches, teachers, classmates, professors, room...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
September 1st 2008
by Alma Books
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An almost 300 page suicide note spanned over a collection of letters to the people and things. The sparseness of the book is great, and like in The Last Good Thing Anyone Did it's the way that the author chooses to leave many of the details out of the book and let the reader fill in the spaces that I really liked. This technique of (sorry Karen) gestalt, probably will account for many people feeling a closeness to the main character that might not necessarily be the authors actual intention but...more
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This is a fantastic book. There isn't much that I can say about this that isn't said better in the book. From what I can see there is a moment in life where you either have to create something or destroy something. This book appears to have come out of one of those moments. It also appears to be about these moments.
***
Periodically I will start to recommend a book that I read a long time ago and then realize there is something a bit wrong with the review I wrote. On madame bovary I realized I ha...more
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Periodically I will start to recommend a book that I read a long time ago and then realize there is something a bit wrong with the review I wrote. On madame bovary I realized I ha...more
hmmm... i didnt like this as much as my pals did. although i like the way the narrative unspools, and the gaps within, the central character never won my sympathies. i have a lot of questions.
16 likes · like · see review
This is my first time reading anything by Michael Kimball, and I was intrigued by this book after reading a review of his most recent book "Us" (http://therumpus.net/2012/05/101513/) that mentioned it. It is a collage of texts from one man's life compiled by his brother. What I liked about this book was its inventiveness, the fact that we can discover more about someone after they're dead than during their lifetime. I actually realized this myself after cleaning out my deceased aunt's house. Thi...more
Once again, in the spirit of disclosure, Michael Kimball and I have collaborated before. He wrote about me for his postcard life stories project here:
http://postcardlifestories.blogspot.c...
And he interviewed me for my virtual book tour here:
http://michael-kimball.com/blog.php?i...
In any case, you know those scenes in cheesey romantic movies where the guy runs outside and yells, "I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!!"? I was actually tempted to do this with Michael Kimball's _Dear_Everybody_--just run outside a...more
http://postcardlifestories.blogspot.c...
And he interviewed me for my virtual book tour here:
http://michael-kimball.com/blog.php?i...
In any case, you know those scenes in cheesey romantic movies where the guy runs outside and yells, "I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!!"? I was actually tempted to do this with Michael Kimball's _Dear_Everybody_--just run outside a...more
3 likes · like · see review
One of my favorite contemporary reads as I simply couldn't put it down even though the ending is the beginning. Kimball uses a creative approach to masterfully unfold the life and death of a troubled but likable man. The story of Jonathan Bender is told through suicide letters written by him to almost everyone and everything that he encountered in his short life including the Easter Bunny. Through these letters, the author captures key slices of Bender's life which implies why he chose to end hi...more
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An expertly compiled bunch of detritus from the sad life of a character named Jonathon Bender. Through various letters (most apologetic), found documents, excerpts from his mom's diary, and conversation fragments, Michael Kimball has created a believable and progressively tragic piece of Americana. We know what's going to happen, but we still hold out hope for the unfortunate young man. Kimball writing is wonderfully understated and beautiful and I will read more of his work.
2 likes · like · see review
Dear Everybody is the life of weatherman Jonathon who commits suicide. Starting from his death and going back, his brother Robert helps tell you Jonathon's story for himself and the readers. Robert collects various diary entries of his mother's, letters that Jonathon wrote to a wide variety of poeple, interviews with people who knew Jonathon such as his parents, and more to tell this story of a life who tried so hard...yet couldn't make it.
I'm a big fan of stories told in this type of manner, an...more
I'm a big fan of stories told in this type of manner, an...more
The idea of this novel was absolutely intriguing - a man commits suicide, and his estranged brother sifts through the detritus of his life, trying to work out why Jonathon took his own life. Most of the book consists of a series of letters written by Jonathon to everyone from his ex-wife to the Easter Bunny, along with input from his brother's conversations with his father and others.[return][return]This style could so easily have been overcomplicated, become distracting, or simply have failed t...more
Nov 25, 2008
Timothy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
99% of book lovers
Recommended to Timothy by:
The excellant reviews
I related to this book for many reasons. First of all, to produce a novel in the form of letters is a creative idea to begin with, but Michael Kimball pulls it off masterfully, with a hint of genius. The protagonist, Jonathon Bender, dies on page one but the travels of his life prove to be an amazing journey.
The portrayal of Bender's various struggles with his mental illness are portrayed sensitively and accurately by Kimball. You never feel pity for the character nor do you become disgusted by...more
The portrayal of Bender's various struggles with his mental illness are portrayed sensitively and accurately by Kimball. You never feel pity for the character nor do you become disgusted by...more
Review copy from author
While attending the CityLit Festival in Baltimore last month, I sat in on Michael Kimball's 510 Readings. Back at home, I did a little research and discovered that he was an author himself (he is host and creator of the 510 Readings, but had not read at the event I attended). Of course I just HAD to contact him to inquire about his wonderful event and the books he has written. And Michael was kind enough to mail me out a review copy of "Dear Everybody", for which I thank h...more
While attending the CityLit Festival in Baltimore last month, I sat in on Michael Kimball's 510 Readings. Back at home, I did a little research and discovered that he was an author himself (he is host and creator of the 510 Readings, but had not read at the event I attended). Of course I just HAD to contact him to inquire about his wonderful event and the books he has written. And Michael was kind enough to mail me out a review copy of "Dear Everybody", for which I thank h...more
Dear Everybody tells the poignant life story of Jonathon Bender, a mentally troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who takes his own life. It's told through the letters he leaves behind and interviews with his family that shed light on the difficulties of moving through the world with a mental illness. The childhood notes of Jonathon explain things like the reason he pulled most of his eyelashes of his eyelids. It was because a girl at school told him that if you blow on your eyelashes a...more
This was one of the most unusual books I've read in a long time! The main character of the book has committed suicide. His brother goes back over his belonging and finds these letters written by his brother before he died.
He decides to piece together what happened by compiling the letters, comparing them to entries in his Mother's journal, notes from teachers, and conversations with his Father.
It doesn't really read like a novel. I found that I felt like I had known this guy is some way and that...more
He decides to piece together what happened by compiling the letters, comparing them to entries in his Mother's journal, notes from teachers, and conversations with his Father.
It doesn't really read like a novel. I found that I felt like I had known this guy is some way and that...more
I have read novels set up in similar ways. This is a story told through letter, newspaper clippings, and a variety of other printed media. Overall the story is sad. I liked that the letters seemed to be written from Jonathan’s perspective at the time of the event, even though it would make more sense if there were more distance to it. It was interesting to have comments from Robert throughout. He supposedly wanted to clarify his brother's life, but then he inserts these ambivalent comments. It a...more
A work of fiction comprised of an absurd amount of suicide letters addressed to not only the obvious mother, father, brother but to the other central figures in the main characters life: santa claus, Michael J. Fox,e.g. Written with a mastery that only Kimball possesses, I found myself laughing out loud, glued to the pages in submerged thought and shivering from the cold reality of loneliness that plagues the suicidal but the desire for a different, more appealing life he desperatly seeks but se...more
A sad book about a boy/man suffering a mental illness. Uniquely presented in a pieced together suicide note & life history from multiple sources. Jonathon is a character you just want to help - I initially thought he was mildly autistic (obsession with the weather, difficult emotionally, style of his letters). I wondered if his father had been more loving, whether that would have changed Jonathon's mental situation & therefore a different outcome. Original - but has left a hollow feeling...more
I only picked it up because the title which is in cursive reminded me of that amazing dear meat blog, which is on tumblr. And I kind of like the simplistic cover, so I thought it would make a good lazy Sunday read. I finished it in a single gulp while in the library, and I was sobbing at the end of it. It's good to be reminded how it feels to be crying again. Although not so much a tearjerker as Sparks, this book has its own soaring times and also tumbling down times.
Sad. So it's good.
Sad. So it's good.
In this epistolary novel, the main character comes across as a sweet, unusual, troubled adult. I enjoyed how Kimball portrayed his POV over time through interviews, scraps of reports and other's diaries, and his own letters to everyone in his life. The honesty and quirkiness of the main character is endearing, yet because of the artifice of the epistolary form, this book lacked depth for me, thus 3 stars. Reads like more of a novella.
This is second book by this Michael Kimball that has really hit home. It doesn't happen often.This book has it all: innovation in narrative structure, a deeply felt humanity, and so on. I am still processing this emotionally, especially in relation to my own childhood and my father. Healing takes a lot of practice. I am practicing. Thank you Michael Kimball.
Really amazing book written in the form of letters. This book was originally assigned to me in a creative writing class, but I loved it so much I refused to sell it back. I really loved the format of the writing, and even though you know how it will end up from the beginning, the stories in between are so riveting, you have to read all of it.
So, here's the thing, you know there is pain to come. What you also quickly know is that the experiencing said pain is going to be highly engrossing. And what you ultimately find out - spoiler alert, maybe - is that a book about child abuse, mental illness and suicide can be done without magic realism or horrific near-horror movie violence, but still be moving, even paralyzing, and that pain can be captured on the page both sparsely and lyrically, an achievement that is magical in all its own wa...more
This book reminded me a bit of how I felt after reading INTO THE WILD, the sadness of a life and vision and sensitive soul lost to the world. It still moves me, whenever I think of it, days afterwards. Even though this book's character is fictional, he felt and continues to feel real to me. And I still feel the loss. Just incredible.
1 like · like · see review
I heard about this in various places and bumped it straight to the top of my 'get' and 'read' lists. And it was fantastic. I love letters and scraps so the form was perfect.
I had to read it so slowly as I wanted to savour every page. I couldn't bear the thought that I read it too quickly and thus got through Jonathon Bender's life too quickly. I had to remind myself regularly that he was a character not a real person.
It was so heartfelt, so real. Those quirky little ways of seeing things that a...more
I had to read it so slowly as I wanted to savour every page. I couldn't bear the thought that I read it too quickly and thus got through Jonathon Bender's life too quickly. I had to remind myself regularly that he was a character not a real person.
It was so heartfelt, so real. Those quirky little ways of seeing things that a...more
Aug 16, 2010
Jar Wong
added it
i knew what i was getting into after reading the synopsis of the book. i cleared my evening, curled up in bed and underneath my covers, i weeped like a baby. Dear Everybody is a book written in the form of suicide letters addressed to Jonathan Bender's past - family, friends, teachers, ex-lovers, wife.
the story of a man's life told through the letters he wrote to everybody from his entire life (friends in grade school, easter bunny, the weather, you name it) prior to killing himself interspersed with diary entry's from his mom and other info. great idea executed very well.
I read this book in 2009, and enjoyed it very much at the time.
I still have a photocopy of a paragraph from it stuck up in my room.
(view spoiler)...more
I still have a photocopy of a paragraph from it stuck up in my room.
(view spoiler)...more
They should have more stars for books like this.
Dear Everybody, by Michael Kimball is definitely up there in my all time favourites list. It is incredibly good. Wow. Read it.
From http://nikperring.blogspot.com
Dear Everybody, by Michael Kimball is definitely up there in my all time favourites list. It is incredibly good. Wow. Read it.
From http://nikperring.blogspot.com
A simple and easy book to read. The author lets you use your imagination as this book is filled with letters, diary entries and articles and follows a mans life. This begins in his childhood all the way up until death.
Wonderful and inventive work. This collage of a life and death through letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, and more is powerful and heart-wrenching. Nuanced and full of heart.
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Michael Kimball's third novel, DEAR EVERYBODY, will be published in the UK, US, and Canada this year. His first two novels, THE WAY THE FAMILY GOT AWAY (2000) and HOW MUCH OF US THERE WAS (2005), have both been translated (or are being translated) into many languages. He is also responsible for the art project--Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard)--and the documentary film, I Wil...more
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“Anyway the thing I remember most about that night was the way that we unbuttoned and unzipped each other's clothes, the way that we tore each other's clothes off, and how that was even more exciting than unwrapping presents.”
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