Blog? Want Free Books? Let's Chat.

Mostly Funny

by Jennifer De Groot

May 10, 2011

Phil Callaway is a brave man. For one year he vowed not to lie and kept a journal of his experiences, the new true (!) story To Be Perfectly Honest: One Man's Year of Almost Living Truthfully Could Change Your Life. No Lie.

Phil is a comedian, which means that he spends some time performing and lots of time playing golf, exasperating his wife, and replying to emails from "Ruth Madoff" and atheists who will watch your pets in case of the rapture (no joke). The book followed all 365 days (plus a couple of extra ones where he had to restart) of his truth experiment, which looked similar to many of our lives. He deals with a mother losing her memory, adult children dating, and risky investment decisions. He also confesses to greed, lust, and not always liking the praise music at his church service.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I laughed out loud reading it in the lobby of Lube Quick, so much so that the other person waiting wanted to know what I was reading. (Granted, anything has to be better than old issues of American Hunter.) I'm not into golf, so those conversations didn't interest me. I also couldn't understand why he didn't just laugh at the funny jokes an old man at his church told him. Some of the comments seemed a little self-serving and shallow, but I found the book entertaining, with a punch. In what instances do I lie? Am I indulging in some of the same sins? The study questions included are thought-provoking. If you want to laugh (and you really like golf), read this book.