Easy Crafts for the Insane

A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things

By: Kelly Williams Brown

Narrated by: Kelly Williams Brown

Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of Adulting comes a story about how to make something when you’re capable of nothing.

Kelly Williams Brown had 700 bad days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: She wrote a best-selling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to live as grown-ups in an often-screwed-up world, though these accomplishments mostly just made her feel fraudulent.

One of the few things that kept her moving forward was, improbably, crafting. Not Martha Stewart-perfect crafting, either - what could be called “simple”, “accessible”, or, perhaps, “rustic” creations were the joy and accomplishments she found in her worst days. To craft is to set things right in the littlest of ways; no matter how disconnected you feel, you can still fold a tiny paper star, and that’s not nothing.

In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.

This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains crafting instructions, a supply list, and illustrations from the book. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Kelly Williams Brown (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you might even make things.” (Country Living)

“[Easy Crafts for the Insane] combines basic crafting tutorials with moving and amusing biographical aspects in an effort to help readers tackle mental health issues…[Kelly’s] own experience of the positive impacts of crafting, which helped her get through her darkest days, inspired [her] to write this highly autobiographical, undeniably practical, and very entertaining self-help book.” (San Francisco Book Review)

"Kelly Williams Brown has created an incredibly valuable handy thing: a book you can either treasure for yourself or simply hurl to/at people in your life who don't understand about mental health obstacles but whom you really wish would. And! Another cool thing: anyone can follow the craft ideas to occupy a mind that desperately needs a break while creating neat whimsical objects. The book is humane, funny as hell, and relatable. It will help both our collective mental health and the glue and glitter industries." (John Moe, author of The Hilarious World of Depression) 

Beautiful story for our times

Issues of mental health have never been more pressing in recent times than now. This beautifully narrated book is a wonderful read for all of us who wish to reflect on our own mental health and appreciate the struggles of people around us. What a terrific story, authentic and beautifully written.

Stick with it

I have to admit, by the time I reached the half way point I was thinking of stopping. It was mostly a lighthearted romp through relationships and other ~30 year old girl stuff, which is fine if you're a girl of that age. I'm a 64 y.o. man and I just couldn't relate to it. Then things started getting more intense and interesting, so I stuck it out and I'm glad I did. The latter part of the book is very touching, the real heart of her story. This is where she takes off our rose colored glasses and gives us a look at what's underneath, in full color. This is where we learn of her mental health issues. It's amazing the trial of difficult life events that beset her in a relatively short period of time, and how she handled it (and sometimes didn't). By the end I was glad I stuck with it. My heart goes out to her.

Resilience

I had also had a similar experience and so much reminds me of what I went through as well.

Worth the listen!

This was a charming read and I definitely enjoyed it. I won’t buy a physical copy or listen again, but I don’t regret the time spent listening :)

Not really what the title makes you think it is.

I would have to say that I was very disappointed in the book overall. This is just a platform for the author to scream out to the world how upset she was with a election. And she states this in several chapters.
The voiceover was great
The book title is probably correct " easy crafts for the INSANE"
Just not something I would have wasted my money on.
The bashing of people who voted differently that her was very distasteful.
Not a book for me