Match BookWhy I'm Like This: True Stories
Cynthia Kaplan
2002 · 240 pages · Memoir
How it reads
Why I'm Like This: True Stories is memoir (humorous memoir essays, specifically), and its dominant mood is funny. The humour is the point, not garnish. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, family and friendship. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 240 pages it's a quick read. It's a hidden gem — known to relatively few readers.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something funny
- you want an escape
- you like finding books before everyone else
Maybe not if…
- you need something melancholy, dark or tense
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- memoir
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- early career
- Setting: place
- big city
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- funny
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- light and escapist
- Length
- short
- Narrative style
- first person, one narrator
- Publication era
- modern classic
- Popularity
- hidden gem
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, family, friendship
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
- Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc.David SedarisShares: memoir, funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace
Sh*t My Dad SaysJustin HalpernShares: memoir, funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace- You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)Felicia DayShares: memoir, funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace
- Food: A Love StoryJim GaffiganShares: memoir, funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace
- I Was Told There'd Be Cake: EssaysSloane CrosleyShares: funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace, resolved and happy ending
- Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To GuideKaren KilgariffShares: memoir, funny mood, light and escapist tone, moderate pace
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