Easy Crafts for the Insane
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
4
Kelly Williams Brown
From the New York Times bestselling author of Adulting comes a story about how to make something when you’re capable of nothing. Kelly Williams Brown had 700 Bad Days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: she wrote a bestselling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to live as grown-ups in an often-screwed-up world, though these accomplishments mostly just made her feel fraudulent. One of the few things that kept her moving forward was, improbably, crafting. Not Martha Stewart–perfect crafting, either—what could be called “simple,” “accessible” or, perhaps, “rustic” creations were the joy and accomplishments she found in her worst days. To craft is to set things right in the littlest of ways; no matter how disconnected you feel, you can still fold a tiny paper star, and that’s not nothing. In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.
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More Details:
Author
Kelly Williams Brown
Pages
288
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2021-07-06
ISBN
0593187792 9780593187791
Community ReviewsSee all
"What a quirky little memoir about some horrible things that happened in Kelly's life and how she lived them and grappled with them. Another book that shows our humanity. Oh, and there are fun little crafts throughout the book that I'm excited to try.<br/><br/>Here are some great quotes from the book:<br/><br/>p.8 - I was finding success hollow. It is amazing, yes, and it was fun in the moment and made for an impressive bio. But it doesn't - and can't - sustain you. The quality of your relationships, the skill of building and keeping contentment, and your ability to sit with pain and not squirm away from it is what will actually keep you going after that first flush or happiness.<br/><br/><br/>P.260 - so perhaps here is the point of it all, my precious plums: bad things happen for good reasons or bad reasons or no reason at all, to all of us. There is nothing to be done about it except breathe, abide, and hold on to the faith that no matter how awful today was, you never have to live it again... Things, both good and bad, change must faster than you imagine they do. You do not know what the future holds."