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Picador

How Should a Person Be?: A Novel from Life

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Chosen as one of fifteen remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write in the 21st century by the book critics of The New York Times "Funny...odd, original, and nearly unclassifiable...unlike any novel I can think of."―David Haglund, The New York Times Book Review "Brutally honest and stylistically inventive, cerebral, and sexy."―San Francisco Chronicle Named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Flavorpill, The New Republic, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium―a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum) By turns loved and reviled upon its U.S. publication, Sheila Heti's "breakthrough novel" (Chris Kraus, Los Angeles Review of Books) is an unabashedly honest and hilarious tour through the unknowable pieces of one woman's heart and mind. Part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part vivid exploration of the artistic and sexual impulse, How Should a Person Be? earned Heti comparisons to Henry Miller, Joan Didion, Mary McCarthy, and Flaubert, while shocking and exciting readers with its raw, urgent depiction of female friendship and of the shape of our lives now. Irreverent, brilliant, and completely original, Heti challenges, questions, frustrates, and entertains in equal measure. With urgency and candor she asks: What is the most noble way to love? What kind of person should you be? Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; Reprint edition (June 25, 2013)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 125003244X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 47


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.85 x 8.2 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #142,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2,351 in Women's Friendship Fiction #5,018 in Contemporary Women Fiction #10,199 in Literary Fiction (Books)


#2,351 in Women's Friendship Fiction:


#5,018 in Contemporary Women Fiction:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Fantastic Book
Sheila explores her title question to such honest lengths that one cannot help but sympathize and root for her quest. The characters are alive with personality and voice that functions more like hearing an actual conversation with a friend rather than reading some constructed conversation from a narrator's mind. That may be because they were real and in that reality we can see the insecurity and uncertainty we always face, but never admit. The idea being everyone acts normal, so we all feel alone in our awkwardness. As we see her explore and struggle against how to be a person, we too can relate and struggle so that in the end we can experience the truth that she experiences. As she learns to be a person, we too can learn to be a person. A true Bildungsroman, but intended for adults, to cope with society, the relationships there-in, and what it means to be human among all that confusion. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2013 by Faye
    • odd and original
hmmm....how should a person think of this novel? For the most part, it's interesting although it doesn't fully answer the question of how should a person be...in this case, how should a person who is trying write a play be. I love that she is asking though.....it's a question I asked of myself when I was a searching twenty year old. How should a person be?? There were so many options. This is a rambling, sometimes insightful, sometimes boring account of her life in Toronto hanging out with her friend, Margaux, and their very specific focus on art....the making of art, the meaning of art, their artsy friends, etc. It's an unexciting life other than some aggressive sex thrown in. Heti seems to be downplaying everything, almost trying to make her life uninteresting and at the same time wishing to be famous, as she's come to the realization that is how a person should be. It's odd but original. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2018 by pml
    • Unlike Anything I've Read Before
How should a person be? Initially, I thought that this book was some sort of scholarly outlook on the philosophy of man. I expected a breakdown of the most vital characteristics a human should possess, and how to obtain them. But this book was nothing like that. In fact, it's very difficult to even put this book into a category at all. Is it a biography? Is it a memoir? Is it a self-help book? I know that it is technically categorized as a novel, but even that is debatable to some aspect. The format of the writing can switch from what seems to be a stream of consciousness, to dialogue written like a play script, then to a more traditional format that is commonly seen in novels all in one chapter. Sometimes it is very jarring, and disruptive to the reading process, but it is one of the most memorable aspects of this book. Now, for the content of the book, I don't even know where to start. If I had to describe the book in one sentence I would say, "A book that follows the complicated relationship between two friends who subsequently learn life lessons through their poor choices and artistic endeavors." Although I do think that this sums up the general idea of the book, trust me there is so much more to it. Really, the only way you'll find out is if you read it. The book is an interesting experience that you may hate or love. Currently, I'm somewhere in the middle of the two, but I would say if you are into quirky memoirs, with blunt and vulgar language, give it a try. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2019 by QueenB
    • How a novel should not be
I read Heti's book after reading 10:04, the brilliant, insightful, creative and witty novel by Ben Lerner. By comparison, and even on it's own, Heti's effort is at the other end of the spectrum on all dimensions: dimwitted, dull, unimaginative and humorless. Too bad, because the book's title suggests otherwise. Yet I cannot recall reading a more contrived effort to be fresh and smart that fails as badly as this does. Virtually every page is cringeworthy. "No Sheila, that is not funny, that is not deep, that is not remotely interesting" is a common reaction I had when plodding through this awful book. As for the great reviews from noted novelists and critics, they are not in any way honest reactions to what happens between the covers of this book. Do yourself a favor, go read Lerner. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019 by Ihaveopinions

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