Title: GMorning, GNight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You
Author: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Illustrator: Jonny Sun
Publisher: Random House (division of Penguin Random House)
Published: 2018
Genre: Self-Help / Self-Esteem, Poetry
Pages: 201 pages (physical copy, hardback)
Read Time: 2 Days (very casual reading)
.:: Author Summary ::.
Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!
Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspiring his Twitter followers with words of encouragement at the beginning and end of each day. He wrote these original sayings, aphorisms, and poetry for himself as much as for others. But as Miranda’s audience grew, these messages took on a life on their own. Now Miranda has gathered the best of his daily greetings into a beautiful collection illustrated by acclaimed artist (and fellow Twitter favorite) Jonny Sun. Full of comfort and motivation, Gmorning, Gnight! is a touchstone for anyone who needs a quick lift.
.:: Personal Summary ::.
A collection of poetry-style tweets from Lin-Manuel Miranda's own brain printed into a book for your regular reading pleasure. The poetry ranges from inspiring words to affirming ones and back again, but it is personalized with the creative flare that Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for throughout his career.
.:: Overall Rating ::.
~ 4 out of 5 ~
Even though I found a website that indicated that this book has 66,000-ish words inside of it, I'm here to tell you that the in the 201 pages, no page will exceed 140 characters, which we all know is not equivalent to the word count measure, so there's absolutely no way this book have 66,000 anything except fibers to have made it an existing product. Even when compared to other poetry books, this text is quite short and sweet. Or, at least it's sweet in its intention.
I love Lin-Manuel Miranda. He's a genius - a true wordsmith in his own right, in how own way. I am truly impressed continually by his words and work. That said, I did find myself somewhat disappointed by this publication. Being that the theme for the month I read this in for my ReadWithMe reaching challenge was "self-care" and "self-love," the motivating nature of this book was appealing for a number of reasons. Inspirational poetry - yes, yes, yes. Crafted by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton & musical fame - no hesitation, absolutely! Pictures to add additional flare - who could say 'no' to that? I was thrilled.
I was a little less thrilled when purchasing it at nearly $25 USD considering what I was purchasing. For example, I purchased "Wild Chai" directly from the self-published author's website for $15 USD and it was easily two or three times more content than this book. Normally, I would think something like "I'm paying for quality rather than quality" when purchasing the goods and services of people I admire. However, if I had to choose a favorite between "Wild Chai" and "GMorning, GNight" the answer is really easy: "Wild Chai."
Now, that's not to say that I hated Miranda's work here. In fact, I appreciated the concept very much because I used to post a variant of haiku's daily for a period of time that reflected my thoughts about trying to exist in the morning when I couldn't sleep. This is very much in the same vein of that, and so I could really personally understand what Miranda was working to accomplish. For me, the content itself is where everything fell flat for me, and I'll explain that a bit more in the next sections. Miranda will definitely not be remembered for this publication, no matter how well meaning and sincerely crafted it was at the time.
.:: Technical Writing ::.
~ 5 out of 5 ~
I am in no place to really criticize Lin-Manuel Miranda's technical skill because he is so very talented. There doesn't need to be a lot of explanation here to really prove or justify my rating for this category. Chances are we all already know that Miranda has a good handle on his technical skill. He continues applying practicality and talent in these short poems and encouragements. Everything reads so simply and modernly, as would be expected for this type of publication. It's just more of his great writing in application.
.:: Creative Content ::.
~ 3.5 out of 5 ~
Now, creativity is perceived so very differently from person to person, and I do expect someone may find fault with my criticisms of Lin-Manuel Miranda's content. To you I say, we're all entitled to our own opinions, but perhaps hear me out if you find yourself in a temperate mood enough to receive the input. The two main issues I take with Miranda's content in this book are as follows: it's not particularly awe-inspiring in the ways of creative thinking and some of the messages are well-meaning but clearly miss the target. Allow me to elaborate.
1) It's not particularly awe-inspiring in the ways of creative thinking. Lin-Manuel, the creator of "In the Heights" and "Hamilton." Lin-Manuel, the musician behind much of Moana's success. Lin-Manuel, the famed actor and performer. We know how great his work can be, and yet with "GMorning, GNight" we do not see his best. Much of what he says is incredibly vague and focuses are on simple or broad concepts like self-love, self-care, and self-confidence. Of course, right? It should be focusing on those things because it's meant to be inspirational. However, as I type thing, I can't tell you any specific poem or message that I recall with any clarity. A number of the pages were compliments about your appearance or your generalized accomplishments. I found it all very quite bland. Here are few that I want to share for comparison's sake:
Good morning.
Good Gracious.
Your smile is
contagious.
Good morning, beautiful.
Make someone happy today.
I promise you it'll bounce back.
Good morning, you magnificent slice of perfection.
Yeah, you.
You're so pretty I can't look directly at you.
You're an eclipse.
Good Morning.
While these messages are very kind and are nice to read, they are all very similar in the message that they're trying to send. They feel better fit for greeting cards than a published book, if I'm completely honest. I think I would've preferred that instead, actually. Someone get me in contact with Lin-Manuel Miranda yesterday so we can make that happen.
2) Some of the messages are well-meaning but clearly miss the target. Something that matters to me is mental health and emotional wellness. These are topics that I have always been passionate about, especially as I've grown through my own mental illness. That being said, there are certain phrases, suggestions, and insinuations that are absolutely unhelpful to self-help, self-healing, and wellness as a whole. It's also, perhaps, the number one thing I dislike about religion as a whole, and that's the concept that everything that happens to us is for some greater purpose. It validates suffering as a positive aspect of one's growth and that is toxic. Another common theme in the messages that I don't care for is when there are suggestions that things happen to us when they're supposed to happen. Here's a handful of examples showing what I mean:
Good morning.
Keep busy while you wait for the miracle.
Good morning.
Everything could change today.
Or one tiny, vital thing.
What it WON'T be is a rerun of yesterday.
Let's see.
Gmorning.
Breathe deep.
That hitch in your breath is a record scratch.
That throbbing in your temple is the bass, and you
control the volume knob
The scars in your mind and your heart are grooves
that run deep.
YOUR music. YOUR heart. YOUR life.
You got the aux cord.
Bump it.
HAVE A GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE IS
COUNTING ON YOUR
SWEET DREAMS
Gmorning.
Your worst fears about yourself only need a drop of
attention and sunlight to grow quick and wreck your
whole shit.
Clear away those weeds.
Take time to harvest your strengths and your joys.
Water and sunlight to the best in you.
Good morning.
You are perfectly cast in your life.
I can't imagine anyone but you in the role.
Go play.
Good night.
You are perfectly cast in your life.
And with so little rehearsal too!
It's a joy to watch. Thank you.
All of these messages are well-meaning and I know many people would find no fault with these encouragements and poems. However, there's a problem when it comes to mental illness and abuse - and it's the fallacy of power in the ability to choose. When one's mental health is poor, the power of choice is damning. It doesn't exist in the capacity between choosing to wake up and choosing to stay alive at the most bare minimal level. Choosing to get up and shower can feel like life-or-death because it causes existential crisis and exhaustion. Comments like "You got the aux cord" places power in the hands of someone who can barely lift their hands to hold it. Further yet, though, is this "take time to harvest your strengths and your joys," which aims to say that someone can just do that without having the support or resources to do it. That's true for someone with mental illness holding them back in life, as well as for someone struggling with an abusive home. Having grown up with parents that struggled with mental illness and addiction, I can tell you that patterns of behavior related to those things often crossed over into abusive tendencies. Would I say my family was abusive? No. Would I say we were all unhealthy? Absolutely, yes, and the problem is the culture that made them thing that they could just fix things by remembering it's their choice, they have control, and that they can change it whenever they want.
It's demoralizing to say that people who are systematically held down to drown in their circumstances and government. Poor people are destined to remain poor as a result of generational classism. With a lack of access to women's health care, abstinence as the only form of sex education, a lack of resources for young mothers, and social ostracizing of women for being sexually active and having children that they may not have intended to have - women very specifically have always had to work harder to fight the barriers of mental illness, addiction, and generational poverty. You don't get to just suggest that she can flip those circumstances on their head.
I also really took issue with some of these poems and encouragements with the lens of abuse. Lines like "You are perfectly cast in your life" and "What it WON'T be a rerun of yesterday," and even the line "EVERYONE IS COUNTING ON YOU" really invalidates the victim experience. There's this sensationalism that surrounds surviving unfortunate circumstances or abuse that makes it seem like everyone has a "sob story" and that every success is from the ashes of suffering. Firstly, we know that that's far from true because many people only have access the resources for success if they have the money or the connections, most of which come from having money. This is absolutely suffocating to someone who is being abused by their family, bullied by their peers, or suffering the hate crimes of outsiders who don't deserve to have a say on how they choose to exist. That abuse is not serving a purpose. Giving it purpose validates it's presence in our society. Nobody is "perfectly cast" to suffer; nobody can "wait for the miracle" to show up when a lot of change comes from action. Whether that's the victim speaking up, or someone seeing it from the outside, change is because of action not waiting. The longer someone waits for their situation to change, especially in situations where abuse is involved, the worse that trauma gets. Do you know how long-lasting trauma is? Abuse victims may never recovery from the damage and conditioning they endured.
Like I said, these messages are very well meaning in the fact that COMBINED they are meant to give confidence, affirmation, and courage to pursue that which makes the reader's life healthy and satisfying. This whole sector of literature, the self-help genre, really preys on the minds of people who are struggling in one way or another, but it's also limiting because it assumes that people who wants to change can read, like to read, are able to carve out time for reading, etc. It frustrates me that the access to self-help resources comes with a barrier to entry in the means of finances. Remember from earlier - this book was $25 USD after taxes. Taking the comparison of price further, "Mexican Gothic" was almost $30 USA after taxes, and that's only 100 pages longer with top-to-bottom text in the majority of the book. I just am left feeling like - what did I pay for? Would someone with fewer funds pay for this? Alas, I will not run down that road. Essentially, what I got from this book wasn't worth what I paid for it, and the content could be easily misinterpreted by readers in certain circumstances or states of mind.
.:: Recommendation Rating ::.
~ 4 out of 5 ~
Criticisms aside, there are definitely reasons to have this book on your bookshelf. One, if you're a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, then you'd definitely want to add this to the collection of his memorabilia. Two, if you are really into this kind of text, self-help and encouragements, then absolutely add it to the shelf. Three, if you need daily affirmations during your wake-up coffee, then why not, yeah. I'm not regretting my purchase, but I'll be honest - I'm going to end up using as a coloring book if anything. I want to color in the intriguing and lovely illustrations by Jonny Sun more than I really want to re-read the writing itself, so that'll present itself as a nice side activity someday.
Even though I find some of the messages too vague and repetitive, or misleading despite well-meaning, the concept is kind. It sends love and shows kindness to readers that I know Lin-Manuel Miranda genuinely cares about so wholly. He's really one of the good guys out there in Hollywood land. I appreciate the effort and thought behind this work, so I'm not about to say I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. My criticisms from a very specific place that may not be widely applicable or agreed upon. But if someone were looking for something more helpful and effective, I don't think I would categorize it that same tier.
It's a solid read if you're looking for something light and vaguely helpful, but maybe see if the eBook is cheaper (it is), or buy a used copy instead.