A really different type of memoir, but one anyone will relate to. Leviton explores the meaning of honesty in theory and practice in a personal yet universal way.

As I had the pleasure to receive an audiobook of To Be Honest, I simultaneously read and listened to this book, which has lately been my favorite way of reading in general. But since this is a memoir, it was amazing to listen to the author as a narrator as well, which made it a really special experience for me as a reader.

To Be Honest was certainly a surprise for me. I enjoy reading memoirs, but they are usually so intimately personal that besides a few life lessons and general knowledge, it is difficult to apply them to your life. This one is different; Michael Leviton tells his story of an upbringing in a family who basically worships honesty without considering the practical implications of this philosophy outside of the home. It's a topic I, as much as anyone, often struggle with - is it worth telling the truth in a given situation, and what lies exactly can I get away with?

Since he was little, Michael would never, ever lie - not to his parents, teachers, friends or strangers, even when they would never know the truth. Although this worked some of the time, Michael tells stories of when it didn't, all in a quirky, captivating way. While the reader will come to their own conclusions, I think an important observation is that the aithor's parents, who taught him to live this way, came from a very different reality.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting one.
Overall, I actually ended up enjoying this one. The author has lived an interesting life. He doesn't always paint himself in the best light and that's actually why I ended up rating the book so high. I think it is easy, when writing a memoir, for authors to write things in a way that makes them look better. This memoir does not do that.
In fact, you may hate the subject for much of the book but I believe that is intentional. He is a product of how he was raised and he was raised by a man who valued honesty above all else. What he doesn't seem to understand, until later, is that his feelings are not superior to others. But don't worry, he does learn this eventually.
He is not the most likeable guy at the beginning. I found myself irritated pretty frequently but I think the book is better for it's honesty in this. It could have softened his edges to make him more relatable or likeable but I think then that the changes he went through wouldn't have landed the way they did.
The chapters about his relationship are particularly interesting and funny while also being kind of sad.
The narration was great. You can feel the author poking fun at himself and laughing at the former things he used to say which makes you connect with him as a listener.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* ngl i found most of this book overly annoying, luckily the author found the difference between being honest and being rude, the way his father would rid the center line of "everyones wrong but me and even if im wrong i dont care and neither should you" was wow. lots of things i didnt care for in this book mostly the black and white, i know the truth and theres only one truth (mine), that was a constant theme until the end, but at least they all seemed to have some personal growth so theres that.

To Be Honest, by Michael Leviton, is the author's own story of being raised to only tell the truth. Because of things in their own pasts, Michael's parents, who met at fourteen, believed that honesty was the only way to go through life. They felt that there was never a reason to not tell the truth, to hold back the truth, to soften the truth. "Just tell the truth" was the family way, what made their family a "little honesty cult".  By the age of four, little Michael was all in, confronting everyone for not telling the truth, no one escaped his blunt honesty, not teachers, parents, siblings, fellow students, no one.  

Michael's family was not "normal" and they often suffered for it, but Michael's father didn't care what anyone thought and Michael followed in his footsteps. This policy leads to major roadblocks in life for Michael and his siblings, the inability to attain jobs or keep jobs, or to get first or second dates, get anywhere in life for very long. Michael eventually has to rethink his obsession with the truth, and face the damage this policy caused his family, himself, and those around him. There comes a time when he has a long list of things he won't do or discuss and that list is basically the opposite of everything he believed and did for the first twenty nine years of his life. 

Young Michael, playing chess with a dad, who'd never hold back to make things easier for him, being truthful to Santa and having a good laugh with him, telling off teachers, stepping on everyone's feelings while thinking that's the only way to be. I laughed, Michael laughs, as he narrates his story, but the story is sad, too. I enjoyed Michael's journey, where everything he believed has to be turned on its head so that he can become the person he'd like to be, needs to be, ditching it all to make his way back to a better place, to be a better person. I enjoyed his story very much and I'll be thinking about his experiences and how they relate to all of us, as we navigate communication, caring (the key is caring), and the power and destruction of honesty. 

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

a memoir that epitomizes the adage “truth is stranger than fiction.”

i didn't know what to expect when i picked up michael leviton's "to be honest;" all i knew was that it was the story of a man whose parents raised him to always tell the truth, no matter what. i was excited to hear about the foreseeable mishaps a life of unfiltered truth would lead to. what i wasn't expecting was a case study of impressively advanced character development.

over the years, leviton discovers that expressing any and all thoughts that pop into your head isn't the cut-and-dry honesty his parents made it out to be. honesty and truth can, in fact, take the form of making mental notes that shape your interactions with people instead of explicitly telling said people why they are wrong in your eyes. for example, while pre-character-growth leviton would have confronted a friend about bailing on a shared project, ultimately shaming his friend and marring any future friendship prospects, post-character-growth leviton finished the project on his own and made a mental note to avoid collaborating with that friend in the future, thus preserving the friendship and avoiding an unnecessarily drawn-out and exhausting argument about etiquette. it takes an emotionally advanced person to be able to self-assess and come to that kind of conclusion, often aided by years of therapy, and leviton manages to distill this knowledge within a few chapters of a book.

the audiobook is narrated by the author, a decision that lends the audiobook a necessary grounding in reality. while leviton is no professional audiobook narrator – he stumbles over words at times and laughs nervously at embarrassing moments – as a listener, i embraced these moments of human-ness, as i often had to remind myself the book was, in fact, memoir and not fiction.

to my delight, "to be honest" exceeded my expectations. what began as a morbid fascination about how overly-reductive thinking about truth-telling can impact relationships and one's life trajectory resulted in a moving character development arc found in only the best of stories. and, as a bonus, i finally figured out why michael leviton's name sounded familiar: i had heard an ira-glass-adapted version of his story originally on "this american life.

thank you to netgalley and dreamscape media for an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't familiar with the author when I came across this title but it sounded interesting. I'm so happy I listened to this one! Beyond the fact that the author had a very unique childhood, he proves to be a great storyteller.

Leviton was raised to always tell the truth. Wasn't everyone? Nope, not like this! All truth, all the time. No white lies to spare feelings. No sugarcoating. This certainly makes Leviton a unique kind of adult. People say they want the truth, but when they get it, it's often too hard to swallow. His complete honesty causes problems in job interviews and in personal relationships. In addition to very funny stories, the reader also gets to come along as Leviton grows and changes and we get to see some change in his family as well.

This one had me laughing out loud and is well worth a read or listen!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very interesting story.. I guess I’m glad I don’t associate with people this honest lol. His relationship with Eve had me cracking up. I love how extra she was.

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect going into this, and I really enjoyed this book! I loved the author’s ability to reflect on his experiences and relationships in a very real and authentic way (which, you know, makes sense 🙂).

I also really enjoyed how, as a reader, I was able to follow this evolution because it was written in a very relatable way. I think it could have been very off putting given how he interacted with some people, but I actually found myself feeling like his honesty made a lot of sense, and really was refreshing.

I absolutely identified as an “other person” - caring so much about what people think of me & it really gave me a lot of new ways to looks at why I care. Giving people new perspective is one of the greatest things books give us, isn’t it?

I loved the author’s narration. He was able to laugh at himself, which was always engaging & made this fun to listen to.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Michael Leviton for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Most importantly, a big thank you to NetGalley, Michael Leviton, and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an unbiased review.

Ever since he could remember ("since he was born" is how he'd put it) Michael Leviton has always given and expected complete and utter honesty. Not just in instances that demand it but in every little thing. His parents were mostly to thank for instilling this integral trait in him from the very beginning along with the problems it seemed to have caused during every stage of life thus far. Questioning his school teachers' directives, making his peers uncomfortable and becoming a fixture to endless torment from girls was all in a day's work for Michael from kindergarten all the way into his thirties.

Told in an impressively lighthearted manner, the author places honesty under the microscope and dissects and scrutinizes it by asking essential questions. Are white lies really necessary? Would it be best to be blunt? What happens when we sugar coat things? What happens when we don't? All these curiosities are answered in as Leviton describes in great detail his unorthodox relationship with his parents and how what they've ingrained in him his whole life seems to be at the root of his shortcomings.

A very well-written, thought provoking memoir to laugh the whole way through, 3.5 stars is what I award 'To Be Honest'. And you'll just have to trust me when I say, I'm just being honest.