''Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar'' is a 2012

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from ''Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self-i ...

by American author and podcaster

Cheryl Strayed Cheryl Strayed (; née Nyland; born September 17, 1968) is an American writer and podcast host. She has written four books: the novel ''Torch'' (2006) and the nonfiction books '' Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail'' (2012), '' Ti ...

. ''Tiny Beautiful Things'' is a collection of essays compiled from Strayed's "Dear Sugar"

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...

, which she wrote anonymously, on ''

The Rumpus ''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine founded by Stephen Elliott (author), Stephen Elliott, and launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as origi ...

'', an online literary magazine. The columns focus as much on her literary memoir as they do on advice and self-help. The book was published on July 10, 2012, by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

, a division of Random House Publishing, and debuted at No. 5 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in the advice and self-help category.

"Dear Sugar" column

The book is a collection of essays from "Dear Sugar", Strayed's advice column on ''The Rumpus''. Strayed took over this column, under the pseudonym "Sugar", on March 11, 2010. It was created and previously written by her friend,

Steve Almond Steve Almond (born October 27, 1966) is an American short-story writer, essayist, and author of fifteen books, four of which are self-published. Life Steve Almond was born on October 27, 1966, in California. Almond was raised in Palo Alto, Ca ...

. She wrote for the column anonymously and without pay until the column ended in 2012, months before ''Tiny Beautiful Things'' was published. As Sugar, Strayed responded to anonymous questions with searing honesty. She drew from her own life experiences in her letters and shared them in raw detail, both the good and the bad. She once said, "I’ve always written the column as if I were a naked woman standing in a field showing you everything but her face." In February, 2012, Strayed revealed her true identity as Sugar. ''Tiny Beautiful Things'' is a compilation of columns chosen by Strayed, including both her favorite and most popular essays. The book also includes essays that were never published on the website.

Reception

''Tiny Beautiful Things'' has been reviewed by journalists on staff at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', and ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''.

''Dear Sugars'' podcast

Strayed revived her Sugar persona in a podcast called ''Dear Sugars'', which she hosted alongside "Dear Sugar" creator, Steve Almond. It ran for four years, the final episode airing in September 2018. The podcast was produced by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and WBUR, Boston's

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

affiliate. In April 2020, in response to an outpouring of requests from readers for her to revive her Sugar persona yet again, Strayed premiered her newest podcast, "Sugar Calling". In each episode of this podcast, Sugar asks questions in conversation with a different author over the age of 60. This second podcast, recorded over

Google Hangouts Google Hangouts was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger and Googl ...

, is intended to provide relief during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Stage adaptations

The book was conceived as a play, ''Tiny Beautiful Things'', by

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia "Nia" Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She starred in and wrote the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best O ...

Thomas Kail Thomas Kail (born January 20, 1977) is an American theatre director, television director and producer, known for directing the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', garneri ...

, and Marshall Heyman. The stage adaptation, written by Vardalos and directed by Kail, premiered at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

in December, 2016 to a sold-out run, starring Vardalos as Sugar. Other members of this original cast include Phillip James Brannon,

Alfredo Narciso Alfredo Narciso (born July 8, 1973) is an American actor. Early life and education Narciso was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to a Brazilian mother and a Filipino father. He showed an interest in acting from a young age. He began acting in middl ...

, and Natalie Woolams-Torres. Vardalos reprised her performance at The Public in September 2017 for an extended return engagement. The play received its Canadian premiere in

Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ', ...

, under the direction of Pete MacLeod for MadFox Theatre in February 2023. The production starred Michelle Deighton in the role of Sugar, with supporting performances from Casey Easton, Angela Schjodt, and Mikayla Jones. The run received critical acclaim and sold out all performances. ''Tiny Beautiful Things'', adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, will be performed at the

Belvoir Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre comprises two performing spaces: the Upstairs Theatre and the smalle ...

Surry Hills, New South Wales Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

, featuring a diverse cast and directed by

Lee Lewis Lee Lewis (born 1970) is an Australian theatre director. Early life and education Lewis was born in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. Her family emigrated to Australia when she was a child. Lewis trained as an actor at Columbia University in New Y ...

Television adaptation

In June 2022,

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

ordered a

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

adaptation of the book, starring

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress. She gained prominence appearing as a supporting actress in a number of comedy films, including '' How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003), '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' (2 ...

. The miniseries premiered on April 7, 2023.

References

{{Reflist 2012 non-fiction books American essay collections Non-fiction books adapted into television shows Self-help books Vintage Books books