That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You. By Elyse Myers. Audiobook

Emma Smith

I love Elyse Myers and her videos on social media. As a neurodivergent person myself, her stories hit close to home. I, too, am intimately acquainted with the awkward pause, the social fumble, the classic faux pas, so her content feels like a reflection of my own life.

This review, though, is about her book, That's a Great Question, I'd Love to to Tell You, not her as a person. Specifically, it's about the audiobook version, read by Elyse herself.

When I saw that Elyse narrated her own audiobook, I knew I wanted to listen to it. Essays and memoirs on audiobook read by the author are some of my very favorite listens. Think of works like Bomb Shelter, or the profound These Precious Days. There is a raw, untamed magic in hearing a story told in the voice that wrote it.

I also chose to listen at regular speed. I normally listen closer to 1.3x, but for this, I wanted to hear Elyse's stories just like she tells them on social media. I wanted the cadence, the pauses, the signature awkwardness that makes her content so relatable.

So, that's what I did. And, well, it was a mixed bag. A pleasant one, but a mixed one nonetheless.

First, you are far more likely to enjoy this book if you approach it as a collection of essays, not a memoir. There is a rough chronology, a sweet love story of meeting her husband, but the chapters are not a continuous story. They are independent stories, tied by the theme of navigating life while being undiagnosed, not knowing yet that the wiring is different.

Second, I was pleasantly surprised by the creative liberties she took with her narrative. There is poetry, creative storytelling, which, for me, was a welcome surprise. I will admit, though, the one about folding hospital corners did run long, and there was another that felt a bit too much like an inside joke, and I don't remember it now. Poetry, I confess, is not my language.

What I loved were the stories from Elyse's childhood and young adulthood. These are the golden years of awkwardness that make her so endearing to me. To hear about the social faux pas, the misunderstood actions, all the awkwardness that makes her so relatable. It was like meeting her again, this time on a deeper level.

I do think it could have benefited from a little more focus, and a title that includes "essays" so the reader is more clear on what they are getting. The essays are primarily about relationships and romantic faux pas, so maybe that could have been more of a focus point instead of the general "about her life" marketing that was used to describe the book.

I also wish I could have seen the illustrations that are mentioned in the audiobook. They are a part of the story, and I felt their absence. It is a small complaint, but it is a real one.

If you are a fan of Elyse Myers, you will find this book to be a collection of awkward moments, some of them endearing, some of them relatable, and some of them awkward. But that is the point. It is a collection of awkward moments.