4 out of 4 stars
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Just Say Hello: The Ordinary Dates of My Sometimes Difficult and Sometimes Remarkable (But Always Interesting) Days (And Nights) by Paul Orshan is an autobiography detailing the many life events that have shaped the life of the author. This book focuses on a plethora of events, and the book is not chronological but rather focuses on significant periods of Paul's life in no particular order. Paul has endured a lot in his years, and he tells his story to encourage others that may be going through similar situations. Most notably, Paul’s first daughter, Amanda, was born with special needs and recently passed away; he has battled, and overcome, addiction; he’s come out as a gay man multiple times; and Paul is also a successful lawyer.
Just Say Hello is not only well written, but the author has a clear voice that is exuded in each and every word of this book. After reading only a few pages, Paul’s character and personality quickly began to take shape. Upon finishing the book, I genuinely felt I knew Paul as a person. Reading this book is almost like sitting down with the author and having an in-depth discussion about life. I admired Paul’s honesty in his writing, as well as in his storytelling.
That being said, the honesty with which Paul tells his stories is the most compelling aspect of this book. Paul is open about his flaws and discusses his current point of view about his past situations with the age-wizened eye of someone who has taken a lot of time to mull over their experiences and truly realize why things happened the way they did. This honesty is exactly what kept me turning the page while I read Just Say Hello. Paul’s honesty about his love and selfishness regarding his daughter, his addiction, his job and even his sexuality were inspiring and relatable.
The only detractor in this book was that sometimes the book felt too much like a glossed-over account of the major turning points in Paul’s life; many of the anecdotes lacked masterful storytelling. Oftentimes, I wanted to know more details about the events Paul was describing, but instead, such events were relayed in rather shallow terms. Many of the stories Paul writes about could be more engaging and relatable if they were told with additional depth and not just as a person reflecting on their past.
While I don’t typically read many autobiographies, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Paul and his experiences. Paul does an excellent job explaining the situations that have made up his life through an honest lens that readers will easily connect with. Further, Paul’s honesty is proof that not everything in life is cut and dry, and just when we think we have figured things out, we realize we really have no idea where we are going in this life. I admire Paul for sharing his story; I was tempted to go with a three-star rating because of the lack of engrossing storytelling at times, but my final positive disposition despite this flaw leads me to rate Just Say Hello 4 out of 4 stars. Anyone who enjoys reading autobiographies told with a candid and relatable voice will enjoy Just Say Hello.
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Just Say Hello
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