Forget reviewing this book; after reading it, I had the urge to call the author and invite her over. I’d pour us some sauvignon blanc and blare the Richard Thompson and we’d toast to our new best friendship. I have a feeling you’ll feel the same way after reading this gem. Tell Me More is Kelly Corrigan’s ode to saying the right thing at the right time. It comes on the heels of her other best-selling books, Glitter and Glue, about mothers and daughters; Lift, about parenting; and The Middle Place, about cancer diagnoses. 

In chapters that come across as mini-memoirs, Tell Me More explores topics mundane—two sisters fighting over a shirt—and sacred, such as a goodbye to a dying friend. Corrigan’s genius is that she points out how blessed and messy and glorious both the mundane and the sacred are, and how they intersect. We’d all be happier if we didn’t thrash around so much, instead of fully inhabiting our lives, she points out, but she’s right in there with us, figuring it out too. Each chapter has a story, exploring how powerful phrases such as “I don’t know,” “No,” and “I was wrong,” can be, though she wisely notes, “the reach of language can be laughable.” Corrigan wrote this book in the aftermath of both her father’s and a friend’s death, so existential themes pervade. While her writing is about complex subjects, it’s simple, honest, and humorous. Humble and holy. Liberating. 

Kelly Corrigan can’t solve your problems for you, or answer life’s biggest questions, but she’ll surely give you some comfort, offer you some tools, and pass you the Pringles.