Justin Renard

< Back

too good to be true by benjamin anastas

ny times sunday book review 

"The failure is real, the voice is raw, the story is haunting." —Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom

"It’s all very funny and a joy to read, but what lifts this memoir from good to outstanding is that the humor and the darkness are merely a patina. Under the irony there is no irony. Under the panic lies a remorseful heart, a steady determination to figure this to and become a better person." —New York Times Book Review

"One of the most acclaimed memoirs of 2012." —The Week

"Too Good to Be True is smart and honest and searching…so plaintive and raw that most writers (and many readers) will finish it with heart palpitations."—Dwight Garner, New York Times

"A miasma of misfortune… the author’s many battles have wrung from him both catharsis and poignancy… [a] raw yet eloquent presentation of a life in crisis mode."—Kirkus

"Scenes of a ’70s childhood, complete with pot-smoking parents and 'a lot of adult nudity' yield unexpected sweetness and humor in a book that’s often searingly painful." —The Boston Globe

"Too Good to Be True has a messy urgency and a distinctive voice all its own." —Washington Post Book World

“This memoir is undeniably impossible to put down." —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"A gifted writer" —New Yorker

"Self-pity has never been so bracing—or hilarious." –Town & Country

"Anastas has written one of the most memorable memoirs we've read all year." —Sarah Weinman, Publishers Lunch

"A spectacular account of mind-blowing failure. It is short and it is beautiful and you must buy it." —Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story