I figured that since I’m pimping stuff today I might as well finally get around to talking about our friend Beverly Mahone’s new book Don’t Ask, And I Won’t Have To Lie. It comes with another subtitle as well, ’50 is the new 30 and other tall tales’.
Don’t Ask book
At just under 80 pages the book is a very easy and entertaining read. Bev talks about her own “lie” and how it almost cost her life because she wasn’t telling her physician the whole story on how she felt and if she’d been taking care of herself. That started her exploring this concept of lying and the intricacies about it.
The strangest things she talks about are the lies we tend to tell ourselves when we should know better. Things like ‘I don’t smoke much’ or ‘I know I exercise a lot’ when we don’t necessarily do those things. I like to say how good I am often enough when it comes to eating patterns, yet when I was taking time to write down everything I put in my mouth I realized that I do have a tendency here and there to snack a bit here and there, which adds up over the course of a day.
The last quarter of the book consists of a liar’s daily survey you might think to do on yourself, which of course I didn’t do because I don’t want to know. lol It also consists of responses to a survey she conducted that yield some interesting responses here and there, answering questions such as “Your girlfriend’s husband makes some inappropriate comments to you while drinking at a party you’re all attending.” What do you do? Nope, I’m not revealing the answers; it’s on you to buy the book and read it.
Oh yeah, two things for clarification. One, the book is slanted more towards women than men, but there’s enough for men to go around. And two, yours truly is quoted in the book on page 43, where I said: “I have no problem with lies of omission, as I don’t believe everyone needs to know everything.” Ah fame; you’re right on the cusp of my grasp! 😉
How funny that you posted this today! I ordered Beverly’s book a few days ago and just received it in the mail this morning. I read it this afternoon and really enjoyed it. I even noticed your quote 😉 I won’t elaborate more because I’m working on a post about it (which so far, is strikingly similar to yours :). I also bought one of Charles Gulotta’s books from that link you gave me a few weeks back. Fabulous! Maybe one of these days, I will stop procrastinating and get mine out there. You’re all inspiring me!
That’s what we hope to do, Jessica, get you inspired to get a book out there. Glad you enjoyed both Bev’s & Charles’ books.
You are getting into print and being quoted….just remember some of us knew you before you were famous Mitch lol
Sounds like an interesting read. Lies get found out and usually people can’t remember what they said when they lied anyway.
Patricia Perth Australia
Thanks Pat, but of course all tributes to Bev. As for lies, I think it’s as interesting thinking about the lies we tell ourselves as the lies we tell others.
A good memory is needed to be a good liar. My mother used to say that I am the king of short tales, as I have good memory. One of my teachers used to say that, If you repeat one lie 100 times it becomes true. Actually I am willing to believe this and have seen it many times. Nothing against little lies of daily life, but I hate big lies and lack of knowledge.
Carl, I rarely lie because at this stage of my life I don’t have many reasons to have to do it. But I will hide the truth here and there; best to just shut up about things than take chances trying to remember a lot of small details about things, especially now when small things will slip my mind all the time.
Remember what George Costanza (from Seinfeld) says:
“Remember,It’s not a lie… if you believe it…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_PSJsl0LQ
Have a great one!
Carolee, George was making it up as he went along. lol
Hi Mitch,
Congratulations that your name has been immortalized in a book!
I believe that lying isn’t good, yet sometimes we need to lie in order to make other people stop questioning us about something (or in order to get away with something 🙂
However, a little white lie that leads to another white lie may become big and you might not remember the things you said when you lied.
Thanks for sharing! and again, congratulations!
Thanks Johanna; I do seem to be popping up in many places these days, don’t I? And I’m not making any money for any of it. lol But it’s a nice book, and I hope you have the opportunity to check it out one day.
Mitch,
First of all–thanks for the plug. You know when you said that to me I just knew it was a PERFECT quote for the book. So anytime I need a quote, I’ll just strike up a conversation with you! 🙂
I personally think there is more danger in lying to ourselves than there is in lying to other people. When we lie to others, we may or may not get caught, but when we lie to ourselves we are trying to convince ourselves that we may be something we’re not or trying to keep ourselves from being hurt.
I admit I have lied to protect the feelings of others because sometimes the truth really does hurt.
No problem Bev, glad to promote it, especially since not only I liked it, but my wife did as well. And I fully agree with you, the lies we tell ourselves are probably the worst because most of the time we know, or kind of don’t want to know. I’ve tried talking many people into checking their glucose levels when they complain of things I went through years ago, but they won’t go see a doctor; I actually understand it, and if I hadn’t been married, I probably still wouldn’t know I was diabetic, if I were still alive at all.