I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying
Essays
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying
Buy for $18.89
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bassey Ikpi
-
By:
-
Bassey Ikpi
About this listen
A 2020 Audie finalist - short stories/collections
In I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying, Bassey Ikpi explores her life - as a Nigerian-American immigrant, a black woman, a slam poet, a mother, a daughter, an artist - through the lens of her mental health and diagnosis of bipolar II and anxiety. Her remarkable memoir in essays implodes our preconceptions of the mind and normalcy as Bassey bares her own truths and lies for us all to behold with radical honesty and brutal intimacy.
A Bitch Magazine Most Anticipated Book of 2019 •
A Bustle 21 New Memoirs That Will Inspire, Motivate, and Captivate You •
A Publishers Weekly Spring Preview Selection •
An Electric Lit 48 Books by Women and Nonbinary Authors of Color to Read in 2019 •
A Bookish Best Nonfiction of Summer Selection •
"We will not think or talk about mental health or normalcy the same after reading this momentous art object moonlighting as a colossal collection of essays.” (Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy)
From her early childhood in Nigeria through her adolescence in Oklahoma, Bassey Ikpi lived with a tumult of emotions, cycling between extreme euphoria and deep depression - sometimes within the course of a single day. By the time she was in her early '20s, Bassey was a spoken word artist and traveling with HBO's Def Poetry Jam, channeling her life into art. But beneath the façade of the confident performer, Bassey's mental health was in a precipitous decline, culminating in a breakdown that resulted in hospitalization and a diagnosis of Bipolar II.
In I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying, Bassey Ikpi breaks open our understanding of mental health by giving us intimate access to her own. Exploring shame, confusion, medication, and family in the process, Bassey looks at how mental health impacts every aspect of our lives - how we appear to others, and more importantly to ourselves - and challenges our preconception about what it means to be "normal". Viscerally raw and honest, the result is an exploration of the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of who we are - and the ways, as honest as we try to be, each of these stories can also be a lie.
©2019 Bassey Ikpi (P)2019 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Everybody, Always
- Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People
- By: Bob Goff
- Narrated by: Bob Goff
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 9,313
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 8,302
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 8,273
In his entertaining and inspiring follow-up to Love Does, Bob Goff takes listeners on a journey into the secret of living without fear, constraint, or worry. This liberated existence we all long for is as simple to say as it is difficult to do: We are called to love everybody, always – even when it’s really difficult.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Did not realize this was a christian book
- By Amazon Customer on 04-03-19
By: Bob Goff
-
Worthy
- By: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Narrated by: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,605
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,438
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,435
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Budda
- By Tamiko on 10-18-23
-
The Devil Finds Work
- An Essay
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 115
Baldwin's personal reflections on movies gathered here in a book-length essay are also a probing appraisal of American racial politics. Offering an incisive look at racism in American movies and a vision of America's self-delusions and deceptions, Baldwin challenges the underlying assumptions in such films as In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and The Exorcist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Critical Masterpiece.
- By Ramon McGee on 05-10-18
By: James Baldwin
-
Manic
- A Memoir
- By: Terri Cheney
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 236
On the outside, Terri Cheney was a highly successful, attractive Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer. But behind her seemingly flawless facade lay a dangerous secret - for the better part of her life, Cheney had been battling debilitating bipolar disorder and concealing a pharmacy's worth of prescriptions meant to stabilize her moods and make her "normal". In bursts of prose that mirror the devastating highs and extreme lows of her illness, Cheney describes her roller-coaster life with shocking honesty.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By Kelly Ranasinghe on 04-26-18
By: Terri Cheney
-
Leslie F*cking Jones
- By: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock - foreword
- Narrated by: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,219
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,092
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,090
Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you. Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
she's the f*cking BEST
- By Audible Anon on 09-20-23
By: Leslie Jones, and others
-
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker
- A Memoir in Essays
- By: Damon Young
- Narrated by: Damon Young
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 534
For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of possessing Black skin while searching for space to breathe in America is enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as “How should I react here, as a professional black person?” and “Will this white person’s potato salad kill me?” are forever relevant. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker chronicles Young’s efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reviewed by a B
-
Heavy
- By: Kiese Laymon
- Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,109
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,522
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,498
Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion, and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Be prepared
- By Amy Eberle on 10-30-18
By: Kiese Laymon
-
An Unquiet Mind
- A Memoir of Moods and Madness
- By: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Narrated by: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,874
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,429
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,420
Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. For even while she was pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients, as her disorder launched her into ruinous spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempted suicide.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
It Says Unabridged. That is incorrect.
- By Casey Wagner on 10-17-11
-
Open Water
- By: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Narrated by: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 228
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 206
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Second person POV releases poignant perspective
- By Storytellersrus on 09-25-21
-
Good Chemistry
- The Science of Connection, from Soul to Psychedelics
- By: Julie Holland
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 138
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
We can find oneness in meditation, in community, or in awe at the beauty around us. Another option: psychedelic medicines that can catalyze a connection with the self, with nature, or the cosmos. Good Chemistry points us on the right path to forging true and deeper attachments with our own souls, to one another, and even to our planet, helping us heal ourselves and our world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Not much new here
- By Suz on 06-24-20
By: Julie Holland
-
Out There Screaming
- An Anthology of New Black Horror
- By: Jordan Peele – Intro / Editor, John Joseph Adams – Editor, N. K. Jemisin – Contributor, and others
- Narrated by: Jordan Peele, full cast
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 184
The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wondrous dark collection
- By Trav on 10-04-24
By: Jordan Peele – Intro / Editor, and others
-
Once More We Saw Stars
- A Memoir
- By: Jayson Greene
- Narrated by: Jayson Greene
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 329
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 329
As the story opens: Two-year-old Greta Greene is sitting with her grandmother on a park bench on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A brick crumbles from a windowsill overhead, striking her unconscious, and she is immediately rushed to the hospital. But although it begins with this event and with the anguish Jayson and his wife, Stacy, confront in the wake of their daughter's trauma and the hours leading up to her death, Once More We Saw Stars quickly becomes a narrative that is as much about hope and healing as it is about grief and loss.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It will open your heart if you let it.
- By Rachel on 09-23-19
By: Jayson Greene
-
Women We Buried, Women We Burned
- A Memoir
- By: Rachel Louise Snyder
- Narrated by: Rachel Louise Snyder
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
Snyder was eight years old when her mother died, and her distraught father thrust the family into an evangelical, cult-like existence halfway across the country. Furiously rebellious, she was expelled from school and home at age sixteen. Living out of her car and relying on strangers, Rachel found herself masquerading as an adult, talking her way into college, and eventually traveling the globe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent!
- By mindovermatter65 on 06-18-23
-
Men We Reaped
- A Memoir
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 204
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 205
In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life - to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly Black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write, she realized the truth - and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tough but important
- By Jermell Powell on 09-26-21
By: Jesmyn Ward
-
What My Bones Know
- A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
- By: Stephanie Foo
- Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,993
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,598
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,591
By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Complex PTSD from a patient's point of view!
- By Howard_a on 05-24-22
By: Stephanie Foo
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44,009
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38,793
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38,656
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
Ten Steps to Nanette
- A Memoir Situation
- By: Hannah Gadsby
- Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,678
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,512
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,503
Gadsby grew up as the youngest of five children in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997. After moving to mainland Australia and receiving a degree in art history, they found themselves adrift, working itinerant jobs and enduring years of isolation punctuated by homophobic and sexual violence. When Gadsby was twenty-seven, a friend encouraged them to enter a stand-up competition. They won, and so began their career in comedy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An emotional connection
- By John on 04-23-22
By: Hannah Gadsby
-
Devotion
- By: Patti Smith
- Narrated by: Patti Smith
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
How does an artist accomplish such an achievement, connecting deeply with an audience never met? In this groundbreaking book, one of our culture's beloved artists offers a detailed account of her own creative process, inspirations, and unexpected connections. Patti Smith first presents an original and beautifully crafted tale of obsession - a young skater who lives for her art, a possessive collector who ruthlessly seeks his prize, a relationship forged of need both craven and exalted. She then takes us on a second journey, exploring the sources of her story.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
No Disappointment Here
- By Roger L. Walraven on 06-11-18
By: Patti Smith
About the Creator and Performer
Editor's Pick
I am here for it
"I was already really curious about this memoir when I saw two of my favorite writers—Kiese Laymon and Samantha Irby—say really nice things about it, including these phrases: "I want to scream my joy," "momentous art object," and "human miracle" (!). Bassey Ikpi is a poet who had a mental breakdown while touring the world with HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. During her hospitalization, she was diagnosed with bipolar II. As we become collectively more woke about intersectionality in our culture, Ikpi’s voice as a Black woman dealing with mental illness is arguably one of the most powerful voices you should put everything down for and just listen to already. She’s one of our most important mental health advocates, and I am here for it."
—Rachel S., Audible Editor
What listeners say about I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. Ross
- 08-27-19
Raw. Real. Necessary.
After hearing Bassey on The Read, I knew I had to get this book. It turned out to be everything I didn't know that I needed. I feel so seen after listening to this. It felt like her words were telling the story of my life. While the cast of characters, places, and faces were different the feelings, emotions, and experiences she shared vibrated to the same frequency of mine.
Even if you don't have similar struggles with mental health, just hearing her tell the stories of her life in a way that's honest and so relate-able will have you captivated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- KJR
- 12-05-20
Exceptional content and narration.
Deeply moving delivery. Riveting story to the bitter end. Stellar all the way around. Go.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Austin 360
- 08-15-20
A view into Bipolar disorder and hypomania
in her words, Bassey Ikpi, takes you into bipolar disorder, hypomania, rapid cycling and the challenges of getting treatment. Hearing her voice tell the story adds so much to our understanding.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chris D.
- 11-04-19
Poetic, beautiful, heartbreaking, honest
I don't think I've ever read a such a beautifully descriptive story of pain and inner turmoil. Bassey's naked self reflection and unflinching honesty leave you unable and not wanting to judge her struggle. Honest, earnest and so raw. I found myself re-listening to portions that were so insightful and so beautifully descriptive that one listen wasn't enough.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- corrin
- 10-12-19
Mezmorizing
There are but two words that fully encompass the full weight of Bassey's Story.. Painfully Brilliant
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- stephanie cruz
- 02-21-20
A powerful account
Hearing her words and experiences in her voice made the experience and story that much more powerful. It’s a beautifully written, raw and real account of her life and absolutely worth the listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- damen bernhardt
- 10-13-19
Time well spent suspended in her story.
I tremble when someone uses spoken word to expose my soul. Bassey Ikpi articulated her story fluently. Honestly, the one thing I disliked was how greedy I was for more. Thank you Bassey lkpi, for sitting in the darkness with me until morning lazily arrived.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-08-20
Insightful, visceral, loving
Too many times throughout this book, I felt Bassey was talking about me instead of herself. She revealed many things - experiences, scenarios, friends even - that felt as though she pulled them from my own life. Perhaps without meaning to, she showed me hope.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 12-05-19
Amazing story, a deep look into life with a mental illness
Amazing story, a deep look into life with a mental illness. What a courageous, raw, beautiful look into the life of Bassey Ikpi. If you ever wanted to witness first hand the ups and downs and every other direction mental illness can take a person, read this book. As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety myself, I can identify with many of the struggles she writes about. I applaud her brave telling and gut wrenching details. Thank you!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- William
- 12-19-21
LOVED IT
So like most, I first experienced her work 15 years ago or so on Def Poetry Jam. She was sensational! The way she could vividly describe the details of the most subtle things is amazing! She applies that here (when appropriate) as well. Her being reminds of Love Jones the movie: the love, lost, self-searching and literature. Anyways... I LOVED IT!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!