Craigslist Confessional - Helena Dea Bala

It was this descriptive line from the publisher that caught my eye..."For fans of Humans of New York and PostSecret, a collection of raw, urgent, and heartfelt stories, shared anonymously...".

I'm a fan of both of those platforms so I knew I wanted to listen to Helena Dea Bala's just released book, Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets From Anonymous Strangers.

Why are we fascinated by someone else's life? There are many answers to that question. I think a lot of it is connection - realizing others may have experienced the same things, realizing we're not alone in our sorrow - and in our joy.

Dea Bala fell into this - she stopped to talk to a homeless man that she had passed by many days. And they ended up exchanging stories. An idea was born and an ad was placed. The results are here and the stories make for addictive listening.

There are forty tellings of addiction, love, loss, abuse, sexual struggles, depression, and many times simply "I've never told anyone this before". Some of them are hard to listen to, others are affirming. But all of them will touch the listener in one way or another. You might have gone through the same thing or can identify with this anonymous person - and know that you're not alone.

I did choose to listen rather than read Craigslist Confidential. I think the 'confessions' had more impact through listening. I always feel more immersed in the stories. A number of readers are employed to narrate the forty stories. There were many familiar voices in the "Full Cast" production. Each of them gave the confessions the respect and emotion they were owed in their telling. And while they each read more than one, each confession was fresh. All readers were clear and easy to understand. Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of Craigslist Confessional.

I liked the cover too - you can just read the redacted words underneath the red. Eye catching and cryptic - what will you find inside? And in the world of Covid 19, I'm sure there are many 'confessions' to come. I hope Dea Bala continues on with this.