The experience of this book is like a one on one audience with the storyteller  

Title: The Moth: 50 Extraordinary True Stories

Author: Introduced by Neil Gaiman

Tags: #moth #storytelling #reallife

Discovered: The Book House, High Street, Thame

Where read: (In part) Ace Hotel, NYC  

Why read now?:  Moth events are gaining momentum across the globe. Find out why these open mike nights for story tellers are so dam good!

The Word's Shortlist view:

"In 1975, I was twenty-eight years old, and I weighed in at 120 pounds. I found myself on a bus, chained to a West Indian brother, headed upstate to prison"

This collection of 50 true stories is a an edit of some of the best real life stories told at Moth events in the US. These 'open mike' nights for storytellers have become increasingly popular for their opportunity for people to tell tales from their own lives to an audience of active listeners.

The Moth phenomena is named after moths that were drawn to gas lamps on verandas across America in a pre digital age when family and friends gathered to recount tales. Like moths to a new flame these events are now taking place in the UK.

In the book, the stories are sorted by theme (Carpe Diem, Coming Home, In the Trenches etc) which belies the truth that these are all completely unique tales told directly from the heart.

Quite literally these tales are some of the most truthful and intimate I have ever read. The experience of the book is like a one on one audience with the story teller, full of pathos and passion. 

Everyone will respond differently to these stories. The fact that the most poignant for me were 'LOL' by Adam Gopnik, 'A Kind of Wisdom' by Ellie Lee and 'Discussing Family Trees in School Can be Dangerous' by Paul Nurse are by the by. 

You'll find your own favourites. Just read :)

Find out more about the Moth movement here: http://themoth.org

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