Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers

by Helena Dea Bala Narrated by Full Cast

Overview

“Touching.” -The New York Times

For fans of Humans of New York and PostSecret, a collection of raw, urgent, and heartfelt stories, shared anonymously.

Helena Dea Bala was an exhausted and isolated DC lobbyist, suffocating under the weight of her student loan debt, when she decided to split her lunch with a man who often panhandled near her office. They chatted effortlessly as they ate; there were no half-truths or white lies, and no fear of judgment. Helena felt connected and unburdened in a way she hadn't in years.

Inspired, she posted an ad on Craigslist promising to listen, anonymously and for free, to whatever the speaker felt he or she couldn't tell anyone else. Emails from people desperate to connect flooded her inbox, and she listened. Within months, Helena quit her job, deferred her loans, and dove into listening full time.

The forty first-person confessions in this book are vivid, intimate, and real; they range from devastating traumas, to lost loves, to reflections on hard choices. Some accounts are quotidian, like that of one increasingly estranged husband: “I want to feel that we're not just roommates-that we're not just waiting for the kids to grow up so that we can move on.” Others are deeply disconcerting, like that of a sex addict employed by a religious organization and several are heartening, like that of a mother who dares to hope that her daughter, born with life-threatening heart defects, will one day walk down the aisle: “Sometimes you need to have the audacity to believe that it will all be okay, that it is okay to have the same kinds of dreams as everyone else.”

In its complex portrayal of the common human experience, Craigslist Confessional challenges us to explore the depths of our vulnerability and expand the borders of our empathy.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Helena Bala has tapped into a rich vein of human stories by opening her heart and mind to strangers who want to share their essential truth with others. She helps them share the secrets that have lurked in their lives, waiting to be released.”
—Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition

“A 21st century Studs Terkel, Bala shows that documenting ordinary people's lives is nothing short of extraordinary. These heart rending stories are of desire and deception, love and loss, and finding connection in unexpected places. A treasury of unsentimental, authentic hope.”
—Elizabeth Greenwood, author of Playing Dead

“An auspicious debut... Fans of Chicken Soup for the Soul or Humans of New York will want to take a look.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A personal pastime became a public obsession ... Bala deftly captures these diverse voices—some gloomy, others hopeful—resulting in lively, empathetic biographical tableaux ... A book that focuses appealingly on the visceral complexities of our private lives.”
—Kirkus

“Infidelity, addiction, loss, corruption, the search for unconditional love—reading these carefully, empathetically crafted monologues reveals how suffering is something we all have in common. Each tragedy or triumph is unique, but the intensity of feeling is not. Perfect for fans of Humans of New York and Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things.”
—Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2020-04-20
Anthology of dramatic first-person testimonials collected by a driven author for whom a personal pastime became a public obsession.

This book reflects the website CraigslistConfessional.com, which Bala developed due to dissatisfaction with her demanding career as an attorney and lobbyist. She describes her work as “a project about hearing and seeing what others don’t—about pulling back the curtain that separates our secretive inner lives from our perfectly curated outer lives. My ‘job’ is to listen when no one else will.” At first, she was only seeking mutual catharsis; eventually, “I amended my original Craigslist ad to include a plan: I wanted to write these stories down and hopefully, some day, publish them.” She was so determined to pursue this that she curtailed her career to do so. The resulting volume is organized broadly, along the themes of “Love,” “Regret,” “Loss,” “Identity,” and “Family,” with 40 subjects across a spectrum of gender, social class, and age. Bala deftly captures these diverse voices—some gloomy, others hopeful—resulting in lively, empathetic biographical tableaux. She stays attuned to her anonymous subjects’ lived experiences, following arcs that sometimes lead from deviance or despair to redemption. One former prisoner notes after 15 years’ imprisonment, “the outside is cruel. It doesn’t care if you did the crime or you deserved your punishment, or you served your time.” Many stories concern flight from addiction or abuse, such as that of a young woman still ashamed of her years as an escort during college: “I was constantly trying to convince myself that it wasn’t so bad.” Episodes of loss include an older man reeling from the death of an alcoholic wife (“Up until the very end, I thought I could cure her”) and mothers haunted by the sudden deaths of children. Though some tales are maudlin or follow predictable patterns, readers should respond to the redemptive twist or optimism that often appears in the stories she has collected.

A book that focuses appealingly on the visceral complexities of our private lives.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178961315
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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