Behold, the Book

This book, in particular:



Tell Me Who I Am. Go ahead, I double dog dare you.

Melanie J came up with the title, and doesn't it make you want to pull out your crystal ball or read my palm or something?

It's rhetorical of course.

Or is it?

That's for me to know and you to find out. By pressing the magic button.

It's DeNae Handy's baby, and 16 of us, including Luisa Perkins, Melanie Jacobson, Jana Parkin, and Becca Wilhite, helped her labor and deliver over it for six months. The result is this newborn book with words so pretty and witty and wise that Ken Craig predicts it will finally knock Two and Half Men off the air for good.

Plus fight tooth decay.

Tell Me Who I Am is a collection of nearly 50 essays about being human. And being Mormon. All at the same time (which we all know is a lot trickier than patting your head and rubbing your belly.)

I read the entire collection in one night, plus the deleted scenes and bonus features. Trust me, it will make you LOL and COL. Maybe someday the MTV Unplugged version will hit the shelves (and by that I mean the version before DeNae cut out all the barf scenes).

(Why do Mormons love to talk about chucking up? Is that what makes us such a peculiar people?)

DeNae says of her inspiration for the book:

It seems like there are a lot of definitions floating around out there of what a Mormon is or is not. And folks are curious.

Given that there are 14 million of us worldwide, who could begin to define a religion that is at once global and grass-roots? No matter how large any crowd is, it's still made up of dozens, thousands, even millions -- of ones.

So, here we are: sixteen ones, revealing a little about what it means to be us, through our stories and reflections.

I've had the opportunity to read each of these essays dozens of times. And still, some break my heart and others have me doubled over in gales of laughter, every time I read them.

I'm confident that members of all faiths will enjoy this glimpse into everyday Mormon life. I don't know if it will answer questions or raise them, but I do believe that our stories have the best chance of revealing just who we are and what we're about.

A complete list of contributors can be found here. (You might recognize my name on the list, just so you know.)

Tell Me Who I Am officially hits the shelves in March, but you can cut in line by pushing the magic button below. If you order before March 10th you will receive a 30% percent discount off the regular price. Order now and get this $15 treasure for only $10.50! Plus a book light. And a Shamwow. And one of those space saving shoe organizers that hide under your bed.