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Dear Stranger, Origins by Jay Ventress is a story about hope. It is also a story about struggle, sadness, and otherness. This is a story that made me rethink the path of being a writer and the atrocities of life.

I met Jay Ventress randomly for a story I was working on, being interested in his street art – handwritten letters pasted across different cities. I thought he was just the next street artist I would never talk to again. But this was not the case. As a consequence of our interaction, I knew what the book is about… To an extent.

Dear Stranger, Origins was published this year (2024) and I was more than excited to see beyond the happy face I met in Brussels and the cheerful Instagram personality. This little black book is written extremely well and tells the story of how Ventress became the “street writer”. In fact, writing good fiction is more difficult than one may think. There is so much bad non-fiction out there. And Ventress does a remarkable job pulling the reader into the story and holding them tight up until the very end.

His book can make you laugh and cry. It certainly tore me up several times at moments when I was feeling emotional and helpless in this city.

Let me tell you why. Dear Stranger, Origins tells the story of a struggling writer in a foreign country. A concept that is not so unfamiliar to me. Additionally, this book depicts the cruelty of the world but also its beauty.

One thing that I particularly liked about this book is the style and the ease with which I could follow. Maybe because something was happening all the time, or perhaps because I know the author personally and wanted to see how the events would unfold, I found this story extremely engaging. Finding a non-fiction book that keeps my attention is super difficult for me, and Dear Stranger, Origins showed me there is still hope for me. I can actually follow a non-fictional story and enjoy it without feeling it is dry and slow.

The voice of Ventress, while you read his boo,k sounds familiar. It is not distant. It comes across as if a friend is telling you how they felt about a certain place. He pulls you into the story and keeps you there with him. Every description is vivid. Every character is given a personality and a distinctive feature. Even though I don’t remember them all, I remember the curiosity with which each one of them is described.

The warm tone makes you feel as if you were there, with the author, experiencing every single thing that he describes – from the good things that happen to him, up to the tragic ones. Furthermore, this book touches upon a very interesting topic, namely, becoming a successful writer. Writing is not the most materially rewarding vocation, and this is something that the author discovers over time. The book shows the hardships of a young soul lost in the whirlpool of reality.

Jay Ventress gave me hope that maybe I am not as foreign as I thought to Brussels. By reading his book, I also learned that good things don’t just come to you. Of course, being a bit lucky helps but in order to achieve something, one has to make an effort and work towards their goals.

It doesn’t take much time to finish Dear Stranger, Origins. I would read mostly on the public transport so going through it feels like a walk through the park – easy and calm. One more reason why I liked this book is because of how genuine, unfiltered, and raw it is. Lastly, what kept pulling me in the story was the fact that often I could see myself in Jay. I could empathize with his pain and with his happiness.

I really liked Dear Stranger, Origins and I would highly recommend it to anyone who struggles in life. Regardless of what is the thing that you’re trying to handle, I think that going over this book will give you a little courage.

Rating: 5/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐