It All Changed in an Instant - by Larry Smith & Rachel Fershleiser (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A perfect distraction and inspiration, and a collection that begs to be shared. Be warned, though. If you plan to lend out your copy, start out with two. Once it leaves your hands you'll never see it again."

The editors of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning are back with its much-anticipated sequel, It All Changed in an Instant. With contributions from acclaimed authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Wally Lamb, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, and James Frey, and celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Suze Orman, Marlee Matlin, Neil Patrick Harris, Ann Coulter, and Chelsea Handler, It All Changed in an Instant presents a thousand more glimpses of humanity. . . six words at a time. In the vein of the popular Post Secret books, It All Changed in an Instant, in the words of Vanity Fair, "will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists."

• Celebrity Contributions: Discover the six-word life stories of stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Suze Orman.
• Literary Superstars: Read miniature masterpieces from literary giants including Malcolm Gladwell, Junot Diaz, and the late Frank McCourt.
• Six-Word Memoirs: Explore the addictive world of flash nonfiction, where everyday people share their lives with wit, candor, and unbelievable brevity.
• An Inspiring Anthology: The perfect sequel to the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning, this collection is ideal for writers, readers, and anyone who loves a great story.

From the Back Cover

Thousands of people around the world responded to SMITH Magazine's call for six-word memoirs. Following up on the smashing success of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning, here are more memoirs from Sarah Silverman, Junot Diaz, Neil Patrick Harris, Suze Orman, Gay Talese, Tony Hawk, Amy Tan--and hundreds of never-before-published writers.

Funny and bittersweet, witty and wild, or downright tragic, these addictive life stories are both monumental and miniscule. Six-word memoirs have become a globalphenomenon, offering anyone and everyone a telling peek at humanity and a chance to find the writer within.

"Father: 'Anything but journalism.' I rebelled." --Malcolm Gladwell

"Live man's life in woman's body!" --Diane von Furstenberg

"Met wife at her bachelorette party." --Eddie Matz

"The miserable childhood leads to royalties." --Frank McCourt

"I never checked my lottery ticket." --Casey Burra

"Shiny head. Hippie hair. Shiny head." --Wally Lamb

"Bipolar, no two ways about it." --Jason Owen

"So would you believe me anyway?" --James Frey

"Can't look at heart donor's picture." --Tonia Hall

"Healed with steel, then got real." --Dr. Mehmet Oz

"I still practice my Oscar speech." --Jennifer Labbienti

"I've done it all except hear." --Marlee Matlin

Review Quotes

"Will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists." - Vanity Fair

"The brilliance is in the brevity." - New York Post

"A perfect distraction and inspiration." - Denver Post

"Irresistibly clever." - Chicago Tribune

"American haiku." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"You could spend a lifetime brainstorming." - The New Yorker

"I fell so in love with it." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Six words. Personal stories. Infinite possibilities. These ADD autobiographies prove that brevity can be the soul not simply of wit." - VSL.com

"Dude's weird premise yields interesting stories." - Ira Glass, NPR's This American Life

"Six-word memoirs leave book lover speechless." - Rocky Mountain News

"The pithiest of life stories." - O, The Oprah Magazine

"Makes for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings." - Publishers Weekly

"A torrent of self-expression not unlike the one launched by Frank Warren when he began inviting people to write their secrets on the back of postcards." - Toronto Star

"The petite self-portraits encompass love and love, joy and sorrow-everything you'd expect from a longer book." - ReadyMade Magazine

"A fabulously appealing exercise both for writers and for readers." - Telegraph

"A good number conjure up both a story line and a worldview. Six-word review: Buy it, keep it in bathroom." - Philadelphia Magazine