To Be Honest

By: Michael Leviton

Narrated by: Michael Leviton

Raised in what he affectionately calls "our little honesty cult", Michael Leviton was ingrained with his parents' core philosophy: You do not tell any lies; you do not withhold the truth; and you speak your mind always, regardless of how offensive or hurtful your opinions may be. For young Michael, this freedom to be yourself - despite being bullied and ostracized at school - felt liberating. By the time Leviton was 29 years old, he had told three (what most people would consider) lies in his entire life.

But his parents' enthusiasm for "just being honest" bordered on extreme. After Michael graduated high school and left home, truth telling - in job interviews, on dates, in social interactions - slowly lost its luster. When the only woman who ever appreciated his honesty brought this radical approach to truth into their relationship, Michael decided it was time to embrace the power of lying.

To Be Honest is a quirky, tender, and wry story of a man discovering what it means and how it feels to lie in one's daily life.

©2020 Michael Leviton (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

This book has been life-changing

I listened to it for about 2 weeks and I during that time I couldn't help not talking about it. We are thought a lot about being honest but this book teaches us about the consequences.

At the beginning of the book I was rooting in favor of honesty, and how society should start being ready for it. Then I started doubting, because our evolution brought us many more needs, such as compassion. I loved the experiments Michael did, in order to try to understand how the rest of the people behaved. It was shocking as I am one of those people and we are never really thought to act a certain way, we just do it cause we learn it from everybody else.

I really recommend this book to anyone. I think it will be mostly appreciated by very direct, and objective people, as they will feel related to the story.

When truth ought not be told

Narration is clear with interesting, varied inflection and rhythm.

Author examines the conundrum of truth telling sometimes impeding unnecessarily accurate understanding as against altruistic, untruthful telling. When which is more beneficial than the other pits absolute morality against situational ethics. And the winner is………?

Recommended
Owing to the unique subject matter I highly recommend this audio. Since completing my diss on deception in ‘76, I have followed the deception literature. I know of no other memoir of a person detailing his efforts to live a life if what in recent years is termed “radical honesty.”

insightful, honest, interesting

It's forcing me to arbitrarily use 15 words, but this book was quite insightful, honest, interesting

Painful, but worth it!

I almost stopped reading this half-way through, but I'm glad I didn't. The author's awkward laughs during the narration and his constant bouts of tears wore against his complete lack of compassion (taught to him by his father from a young age). Still, a fascinating story that deserves being told and heard.

Wow!

This book shows that one actually can be too honest. I definitely can relate to this book because I have a hard time being dishonest eye-opener for me.

unique and enthralling

Loved it, but i might be a little prejudiced. Michael is an original thinker and as ernest as one gets. Add funny and you have a great read (listen).

Finally an honest book for honest folks.

Honestly I haven’t related so much to a memoir in a long time, if ever.
Being too honest is a big problem for me. If we lived in an honest world, it’d be different, but alas everyone is lying about most things.
Few books are this honest, some would call it brutally honest, but I as a super honest person think this type of honesty as more graceful and kind, than brutal.
I do many of the same things the author does, but was amazed and impressed how he figured himself out and others and gamed the system what folks said and what folks really wanted. Also he articulated his Hero’s journey so deftly, he understood not only himself, but what the audience needed.
What a great love story, I was so sad when it ended. It was so lovingly and sharply told, as was all.
People are confusing and the opposite rule was quite ingenious. This could be a handbook for honest folks to deal with a world of comforting lies. I’m sure this book will help many and I hope more books like this will be written.
Otherwise I found myself laughing with him and always agreeing with his sound logic.
I kept wondering if maybe he was on the autism spectrum, but was delighted that was not mentioned, otherwise it is kinda a handicap being super honest.
I love how it was read, especially when the narrator laughed along a little with the funny parts, as if he was reliving them again.
The question is to be or not to be honest. No one likes super honest about everything, but how else will the world really know you? I guess it all depends on how much you value truth over happiness. Happiness is often mostly lies, while truth is often annoying or worse heartbreaking. Fact is that few can handle the truth and those that can aren’t made better for it, and perhaps live sadder lives for seeing the obvious, that few others perceive. Ignorance is no doubt more blissful.
Anyhow super grateful for this, dare I say BOLD Reflection? Which says, This is me, warts and all, this is not the person that wants to be liked or loved, but needs to be understood. Shine on you crazy Diamond.

Wonderful story

The author is a great writer; lots of funny and interesting turns of phrase (many self-deprecating). It goes too fast and I was enthralled the whole way

To Be Honest

The monotone narration made this memoir a bit tedious to get through, but it was helpful insight to the mind of someone like Michael. Might be useful to garner perspective should you ever cross paths with such a person.