Review: What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? by The Buried Life

An illustrated collection of answers to the age-old question, "What do you want to do before you die? "as posed by four twenty-something guys known as "The Buried Life." In 2006, four regular guys--Ben, Dave, Duncan, and Jonnie--made a "bucket list" of 100 things they wanted to do before they died. Five years later, with an MTV platform and 1.2 million Facebook followers, they've turned their attention to crossing off their list item #19: Write a Bestselling Book. "What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? "is an illustrated collection of real people's dreams. Two hundred moving, imaginative, amusing, and thought-provoking goals are brought to life through original illustrations. Peppered throughout are stories of the boys' own journey. Readers will find something to take away--touching stories, nuggets of wisdom--on every page. This is an inspirational book for a new generation: visual and sassy, lighthearted but substantive, encouraging without being preachy.

If you guys haven't heard about the awesomeness that these four boys are responsible for then let me tell you a little bit about them. They are a group of guys who came together because they wanted to do things in life. So they came up with a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died. One thing led to another and suddenly they had their own show, which in my opinion was the highest quality show MTV has ever had. Not only do they cross items off their list but for each thing they cross of their list they help a random person accomplish something from their personal list.

I preordered this book the moment I heard it was being released. The Buried Life boys signed every single copy that was preordered and I was so excited when I opened up my book to the signatures. That was about the extent of what I knew about the book. It seemed like such a different experience and I didn't know what to expect but let me tell you, I really enjoyed it.

The boys asked a bunch of their followers what they wanted to do before they died. Once the answers started piling in they went to some of their favorite artists and asked them to take the statements and create interpretations of them. In the end what the reader gets is truly a work of art. It is essentially pieces of art put together into a book.

I loved reading about what people wanted to do before their lives were over. Some were as simple as, "Before I die I would like a second chance" while others are a bit more complicated, "I want to air-drop thousands of flowers on Times Square". I could even see some of you readers and writers saying these things, "I want to write a book and catch someone in a cafe or on a park bench reading it". I think there is something for everyone in this book, something we can relate to.

Throughout the book I enjoyed reading the background stories of how each of the boys came to form The Buried Life. They talk about the things they were doing before and they really are just normal guys that were tired of sitting around and decided to do something about it. There is some humor throughout the book and I caught myself laughing at some of the wishes. If you guys are looking for a feel-good, inspirational read that will leave you feeling light and make you want to go out and do something, I suggest you pick up a copy of What Do You Want to Do Before You Die.

5/5 stars