A Visual Learner's Guide to Being a Grown-Up

by Matt Shirley

Based on Matt Shirley's popular Instagram account @mattsurelee, this smart and hilarious guide is a collection of tables, lists, and charts for all the visual learners out there striving to be a successful grown-up.

We all know the particular pain that comes with having to be an actual adult, whether it's resetting your internet password on ten different sites, yearning for an excuse to get out of the plans your wife made for you months ago, or the anxiety that comes from forcing yourself to work out again.

When Matt Shirley became fed up with being a grown-up, he started drawing charts as a more fun and efficient way to cope with his frustrations, and stuck them up on Instagram where they became an instant hit. Packed with over one hundred charts, graphs, diagrams, and infographics—with 50 percent brand-new material—this hilarious collection vows to explain everything you need to know about how to be a grown-up, covering work, family, and friends, to dating, breakups, and more.

From explaining the cycle of adulthood to decoding the pros and cons of first dates to understanding the corporate lingo translator, Shirley's charts cut to the core of how to be an adult in the funniest possible way.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Self Help

144 pages, Hardcover

Published April 6, 2021

Reviews

[trestitia ⵊⵊⵊ deamorski · Rating 5 out of 5]

21. yüzyılda kapitalist kent soylu beyaz yakalı köle (!) stereotype'ı olarak bu adamın işlerine bayılıyorum. kara mizah, ürkünç komik, melankolik sarcasm içeren chartlar. "it's deep man..." deyip hüzünle uzaklara bakıp eldeki birayı kafayı diktikten sonra siktir diyerek gülmek gibi. ucuz ama değil.

umarım bi gün benim olursun :(

[Katrina Rigsbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely did not expect to feel this seen or to enjoy this even half as much as I did. It's been nestled with our coffee table books for the past year, maybe two? Last night I decided to pick it up to flip through it but ended up reading it cover to cover. Highly recommend.

[Patrick Hurley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the best. I get you have to have tempered expectations, but I suppose I went in thinking it'd be a bit funnier. Don't get me wrong, there were a few of the 130+ charts/graphics that were funny, some really funny. But, I felt like the lion's share of these were simply re-hashing the same jokes over and over again, often just attaching different labels to the same underlying graphic structure. Lots of jokes about (lack of) sex, nobody loving you, masturbation, having zero motivation, getting nothing done, etc. (to be clear, I'm fine with joking about any and everything in the book, but after a while it just felt childish and re-hashed). There was even a graphic that was literally the exact same thing as what was presented just four pages before (page 134 and page 138).

This will keep your attention for a small amount of time and give you a few chuckles. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend spending money on it and probably not the time to read through it unless it's all you've got.

[Maria Kosta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny at times, boring and predictable at others. If there weren't so many blatant references to sex, alcohol, and weed, I'd say it would make a cute Christmas present for a teenager-- alas, I would only give this to a person who has never seen the internet, because most of the content of this book is just a regurgitation of all the memes talking about how much adulthood sucks. It had potential but was just too long and too stale.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've followed Matt Shirley on Instagram for a while, so I was excited to see that he was coming out with a book of charts. This little volume is colorful, droll, and sometimes profound. I would recommend paging through it at your leisure, instead of trying to read the whole thing in one sitting (as I did, because it was due back at the library). There's a chart or diagram for nearly every occasion, from first dates to awkward family dinners.

[Hussain Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

15% painful 45% funny 90% why is this here?

I enjoy weird humour and funny charts. I would have liked many of these standalone but I just felt this was a little weird in the book format. It’s not something I thought of when I got the book but then having read through it, I would rather stumble upon this randomly than in sequence. Still, it was fun spending time on this.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grey job, Matt! I’ve followed you for awhile now on IG and I’m proud of you for putting your charts and graphs together for a funny book. I really enjoyed it and had some laugh out loud moments. This book will definitely be living on my coffee table.

[George Poirier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of pie charts, graphs, Venn diagrams and other visual representations of life as the author sees it are whimsical, humorous and, often, startlingly close to how life actually is for many of us (okay, for me - I’ll let you read it and decide for yourself).

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I just read this at the perfect time or something, but this was absolutely hysterical.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for some chuckles. If I can’t get a guffaw, I settle for chuckles - anything to relieve the stress of life in 2024!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming entertainment