Special Topics in Being a Human is one of those rare books that is indeed essential reading for all humans We all mess up We all feel overwhelmed sometimes Were all trying to do better at caring for ourselves and those around us with compassion boundaries justice allyship and grace S Bear Bergman offers his trademark tender thoughtful wisdom in such accessible bitesized pieces that you can literally take them with you Hes the queer older sibling mentor and bubbe youve always needed get a copy for yourself and a copy for every other human in your life whos also out there trying to do their best Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg author of Surprised By God and Nurture the Wow

Ive been receiving nothing but good life advice from S Bear Bergman for just about thirty years now With this book on your shelf so can you At every crossroad in your life youll have loving guidance from a smart kind big brother a fun and funny uncle and a bestever daddy Kate Bornstein author of Gender Outlaw

A delightful neatly intersectional graphic compendium of advice tailored to a variety of situations lands as so downtoearth that few readers will mind that its telling them what to do Bergman approaches his mission with humility humor and practicality Delivered with more than a spoonful of kindness this medicine goes down easy and has the potential to facilitate real healing Publishers Weekly starred review

This book allows the reader to spend quality time with the internets wise friendly uncledad who is here to teach you how to avoid making the same mistakes he did and how to be gentle with yourself when you inevitably make some new ones of your own The charming illustrations by Saul FreedmanLawson expand upon the text in charming and often hilarious ways and Bergmans advice manages to be truthful and direct without ever feeling didactic as he delivers even the toughest love with maximum compassion and maximum love for humans in all our frailty and weirdness Jennifer Peepas writer of CaptainAwkwardcom

Bergman is gentle with readers and Saul FreedmanLawsons illustrations throughout add an engaging light touch The Globe and Mail

In this warm funny and tender book of advice Bergman shares many valuable lessons about how to be a human in the world Theres a chapter on how to apologize well a section on doing things youre not good at and lots of wonderful advice on relationships of all kinds including your relationship with yourself Bergmans approach to life is radical and feminist and his gentle encouraging advice centers queer and trans lives and experiences The illustrations are also wonderfully inclusiveBook Riot

Sweet soulful and deeply humane Bear at his best Alison Bechdel author of Fun Home

For many years the insight compassion and humor of S Bear Bergmans writing has been an evertender roadmap to my own becoming I find it truly impossible to read anything he writes and not feel my own heart double in size and Special Topics in a Being Human is an especially transformative gift to our precious lives Bergmans pages on how to love shook me like very few pieces of writing ever have From beginning to end this book is a wildly thoughtful and beautifully honest guide to honoring ourselves each other and our world Andrea Gibson author of Lord of the Butterflies

S Bear Bergman is the fantastic gay uncle you always wished you had ready and able to help steer you with gentle pragmatism and good humor toward being a better kinder more compassionate and thoughtful human being Heaven knows we could all use it Hanne Blank author of Straight The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality

S Bear Bergman and Saul FreedmanLawson offer us a gentle guide to belonging They challenge us to navigate our relationship to ourselves our community at large and the home we create with our friends and loved ones Archie Bongiovanni author of A Quick amp Easy Guide to TheyThem Pronouns