I'm Telling the Truth but I'm Lying

Last updated
I'm Telling the Truth but I'm Lying
I'm Telling the Truth but I'm Lying.jpg
Author Bassey Ikpi
GenreMemoir
Publisher Harper Perennial
Publication date
2019

I'm Telling the Truth but I'm Lying is a memoir by Nigerian spoken word artist Bassey Ikpi published by Harper Perennial an imprint of HarperCollins in 2019. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

The book is described as "a deep personal work that chronicles the Nigerian-American author's life living with bipolar II disorder and anxiety, and a woman of color and combating the stigma surrounding it." [3] The essays cover her difficulties as a young child re-locating from Nigeria to America, struggling with household tensions, depression and hospitalization, leading up to her eventual diagnosis of and treatment for bipolar II disorder. [4]

Development

On May 4, 2017, it was announced that her first book, a memoir titled Making Friends With Giants would be published by Harper Perennial in 2018. [3] The book, eventually renamed I'm Telling the Truth But I'm Lying was published in August 2019.

Reception

The book became a New York Times bestseller. [5] Essence described it as a "stunning essay collection". [4] Kola Tubosun calls it "a kind of map for those interested in learning about how mental illness affects people." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kay Redfield Jamison</span> American bipolar disorder researcher

Kay Redfield Jamison is an American clinical psychologist and writer. Her work has centered on bipolar disorder, which she has had since her early adulthood. She holds the post of the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders and Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is an Honorary Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creativity and mental health</span> Concept in psychology

Links between creativity and mental health have been extensively discussed and studied by psychologists and other researchers for centuries. Parallels can be drawn to connect creativity to major mental disorders including bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, OCD and ADHD. For example, studies have demonstrated correlations between creative occupations and people living with mental illness. There are cases that support the idea that mental illness can aid in creativity, but it is also generally agreed that mental illness does not have to be present for creativity to exist.

Works of fiction dealing with mental illness include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Patchett</span> American novelist and memoirist (born 1963)

Ann Patchett is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), The Dutch House (2019), and Tom Lake (2023). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marya Hornbacher</span>

Marya Justine Hornbacher is an American author and freelance journalist.

Kathryn Harrison is an American author. She has published seven novels, two memoirs, two collections of personal essays, a travelogue, two biographies, and a book of true crime. She reviews regularly for The New York Times Book Review. Her personal essays have been included in many anthologies and have appeared in Bookforum, Harper's Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Vogue, Salon, and Nerve.

<i>Darkness Visible</i> (memoir) Book by William Styron

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness is a memoir by American writer William Styron about his descent into depression and the triumph of recovery. It is among the last books published by Styron and is among his most celebrated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Forney</span> American cartoonist (born 1968)

Ellen Forney is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include I was Seven in '75; I Love Led Zepellin; and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me. She teaches at the Cornish College of the Arts. Her work covers mental illness, political activism, drugs, and the riot grrrl movement. Currently, she is based in Seattle, Washington.

Robison Wells is an American novelist and blogger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sascha Altman DuBrul</span> Musical artist

Sascha Altman DuBrul, a.k.a.Sascha DuBrul or Sascha Scatter, is an American activist, writer, farmer and punk rock musician known as the bass player of the 1990s ska-punk band Choking Victim.

<i>Scattershot</i> (book)

Scattershot: My Bipolar Family is a 2008 memoir, written by American writer, carpenter, and former Montague Bookmill proprietor David Lovelace, published by Dutton Adult. Lovelace's memoir chronicles the challenges of growing up in a family in which four out of five members suffer from bipolar disorder, including Lovelace himself. Only his sister, who is a professional therapist, was spared the ravages of bipolar disorder, while both his parents, his brother, and himself, have suffered to differing degrees over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassey Ikpi</span> Nigerian spoken word poet

Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-born American spoken-word artist, writer, and mental health advocate. She has appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry five times and her poetry has opened shows for Grammy Award-winning artists. She's also the New York Times bestselling author of I'm Telling The Truth But I'm Lying. In 2020 she judged the Indiana Review Creative Nonfiction Prize. She also features on the OkayAfrica's 100 Women campaign 2020 honoree list, which celebrates women building infrastructure for future African generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Thrash</span> American young adult fiction author and memoirist

Margaret Thrash is an American writer of young adult fiction and memoirist, best known for her graphic novel memoir Honor Girl.

Lori Schiller, now Lori Jo Baach, is the author of the memoir The Quiet Room-- A Journey out of the Torment of Madness. When she was 17, she began to hear voices, and was later diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. The Quiet Room--A Journey out of the Torment and Madness follows her story as well as her family and friends as they navigate her mental disorder.

Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love is a memoir by the American public defender Zack McDermott published in 2017.

Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness is a memoir written by Jessie Close with Pete Earley, including some contributions from her sister, actress Glenn Close. This book deals with Jessie Close's mental health issues. The book discusses mental illness, abandonment, sexuality, substance abuse, and emotional turmoil.

<i>Telling the Truth</i> Collection of essays by Frederick Buechner

Telling the Truth: the Gospel as tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale, is a collection of essays by Frederick Buechner on the subject of homiletics. It was first composed for and delivered at the Yale Divinity School Lyman Beecher Lecture series in 1976. Telling the Truth was subsequently published in 1977 by HarperCollins. It is Buechner's sixth non-fiction work.

<i>Perfect Chaos</i>

Perfect Chaos is a 2012 memoir co-written by Linea Johnson and her mother, Cinda Johnson. The book follows a mother-daughter journey of the struggle of the diagnosis and living with bipolar disorder and depression.

<i>The Leaving</i> Novel by Jumi Bello

The Leaving is a novel by Jumi Bello. In 2022, the novel was canceled by its publisher Riverhead Books prior to release after Bello revealed that much of the book was plagiarized.

References

  1. Ikpi, Bassey (August 17, 2019). "Bassey Ikpi On 'I'm Telling The Truth, But I'm Lying'". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by Scott Simon. Weekend Edition.
  2. Ikpi, Bassey (May 27, 2019). "I'M TELLING THE TRUTH, BUT I'M LYING | KIRKUS REVIEWS". Kirkus Reviews .
  3. 1 2 "Deals: Making Friends With Giants by Bassey Ikpi Acquired by Harper Perennial". Eric Smith. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  4. 1 2 Arceneaux, Michael (October 23, 2020). "How Writer Bassey Ikpi Intricately Weaves the Art Of Storytelling in Her Memoir About Mental Illness". Essence.
  5. "Paperback Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Sept. 8, 2019 - The New York Times". The New York Times. September 8, 2019. ISSN   0362-4331.
  6. Tobuson, Kola (July 18, 2019). "Bassey's Literature as Truth; Truth as Literature". Ktravula - a travelogue!.