Tiny Beautiful Things

Tiny Beautiful Things features a collection of letters from Cheryl Strayed’s “Dear Sugar” advice column, which she wrote anonymously. It also includes some never-before-published entries. Using the pseudonym “Sugar,” Strayed offers counsel to difficult situations and personal anxieties such as professional jealousy, coping with the death of a child, infidelity, strained family relationships, leaving one’s beloved partner, and the feeling of restlessness experienced by individuals who feel lost and stuck. Strayed, an acclaimed novelist and memoirist, deals with life’s biggest questions in the self-help book through practical advice mixed with personal anecdotes. She draws from her own experiences to give compassionate, but sometimes harsh responses. Her “radical empathy” brings hope that somehow something beautiful will arise from all the chaos that perplexes life.