This is not a traditional book. This is facets of stranger’s lives coalescing into a monster of a narrative. This is an anonymous anthology.

Brandon Doman started asking mere strangers to divulge their stories. He gave them paper, pens, and clipboards. The only requirement: whatever story was told had to be true. Doman picked two hundred stories that stories convey the range of life experiences, from the “humorous” to the “heartbreaking” to the “profound”, and are arranged to “mirror the common encounters”. Yeah, sure.

Before we begin, I want to assure you that being a cynic is no fun. Ok, now that we got that out of the way, let’s begin shall we! Even though his was supposed to feature a “range” of stories, many of the stories had sappy Hallmark movie undertones. Being the great cynic I am, I started to question whether the stories were true or even apocryphal. The stories are wholly anonymous; yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling the writers wrote as if someone was watching over their shoulders—

That they need to be a quotable or a noteworthy tale. Quickly, you realize the raw, human experiences only include blatantly tacked on motivational speeches and inspirational quips.

A rehearsed human experience splays across the anthology. There is one story that struck me as jarring. In trying to fall in line with the other saccharinely uplifting stories, Indian woman writes that she is currently in an arranged marriage, and despite this, found love with her husband. At first she divulges that, “I have realized…” only to scratch that part out and in its place more sappy lies about making the most of life. That cross out was her true story—the part she was holding back. I admit Humans of New York colors my perception of what makes a truly raw human experiences as not every person comes to profound conclusions. Dorman’s tries to shoestring stranger’s stories into a major one. An impossible feet as facets of the human experience are jagged glass shards.

On a positive note, I appreciated Dorman leaving the stories exactly how each person wrote them and not just type all them out. The book is not in AR reader and rightfully so! Oh well, on to the next.