Wreck This Journal: To Create is to Destroy, Now With Even More Ways to Wreck! Diary – Illustrated, 22 April 2013

Amazing journal/book - inexpensive and still high quality and will keep me busy for a long time!There are lots of interesting and unique pages, amazing product!

I purchased this book along with Mess by Keri Smith on recommendation from a friend who had several of her books. I have been struggling for some time with obsessive compulsive disorder, but in the sense of organization and perfection. I have accepted its a bit of a problem and would like to feel more comfortable about life's imperfections. My friend is a psychology student and suggested it as a way to intentionally force myself to create something that really isn't perfect.I had a good look through the book, cringing a bit at some of the things It was asking me to do. (cut through the book, stick gum or glue in it, draw lines and smear them etc etc). You dont have do to the book in any particular order, but I started on the first page, which was putting your name in it. It asks you to write your name in white, illegibly, in tiny letters, backwards, faintly and in large letters, which I did. After several random pages (feeling well good about myself how neat it still was) I showed it to my friend, who turned it to a page directing that I allow someone to do something destructive to the book (and not look). When I opened my eyes, my friend had dunked the side of the book in black coffee!!! Needless to say, I was not impressed.After some discussion about it, I started to look at it differently. If I could obsessively destroy the book as instructed, I could learn to love something for its imperfections. One thing my friend suggested to me is keeping it for my son for when hes older, as there are little things I have collected in it, my thoughts and even unfinished, I feel is an accurate depiction of my personality, rather than little quirks I have of wanting to be neat and tidy, which is something my son sees everyday. It is something I have let me see and see me do, so that he knows that I am working to be less obsessive about cleanliness and a bit more spontaneous. Ive allowed him to help me, but have explained to him that we only write in this book!Even if you don'g have some sort of obsession with being neat and tidy, I think the book is quite fun. I reckon it would be great to take on holiday (although depending on where you go and live it could get taken away in customs as you're supposed to put dirt and leaves and flowers and such in it!) The book is now a permanent fixture in my handbag, and rather than doing what is all too common nowadays looking around on a train or bus with people on their phones, I pull out a book, and write in it or draw in it! A few people have asked about it and I have happily spread the good word.My only real comment about the book is that having purchased mess at the same time, I would say that this book is far more about total destruction but Mess focuses on some artistic techniques and I think is a bit more educational (it asks you to reference people, places, things, etc) although some of the pages in Mess are exactly the same as Wreck this Journal.While some would argue looking at this book that they could write this book - I would say well yes, but Keri Smith actually did and it may not have taken a long time to write it or to come up with the concepts, but I think time was taken in working out the best ways to destroy a book inside of it. Originality in today's world is a hard thing to come by. Anybody could do anything realistically if they put their mind to it and worked hard, but sometimes the simpler successes are the harder ones to identify yourself, and Keri Smith got the simple attractiveness of this book just right.I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. It is particularly fun to do with kids. Its a good laugh and a nice way to occupy time, in comparison to constantly pulling out your phone and messing around with games or the internet. It is a sort of project and takes time, but is definitely an interesting way to spend the time.

fun idea for an explosion of emotions and creativity!

amazing fun for kids and adults alike. loved this.

Fabulous and fun activity for adults and young people. Great in times of stress

Bought as a fun gift. It suited the anarchic person it was aimed at.

Initially bought this as a gift but they loved it so much I ended up buying another for a family member and then another for myself! They are not only fun but I found it to be such an amazing way to "break the mould" where the whole purpose is to destroy something brand new. It's so therapeutic but in a really controlled way. Some of the pages are more specific than others but really you can do whatever you like with it, and if you and other people did it at the same time, they would still all end up SO different. Amazing creative outlet but in a small space. Just such good fun!

Takes a very long time to do the tasks so I got bored and didn’t finish them