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The Things I Came Here With
“Does it hurt?” When you’re a tattoo artist, that’s the most universal question. For Chris MacDonald, the answer is simple: hurts less than a broken heart. Those words are painted above the entrance to his shop, Under My Thumb Tattoos, as a reminder.
Chris and his brothers were as wild as the wind, in their house among the fields of Alliston, Ontario, when their parents divorced. Shell-shocked, they were uprooted and brought to Toronto by their dad. Their mother’s mental illness worsened in the aftermath, and she disappeared. As a teenager, Chris left home and found himself immersed in the city’s underbelly, a world where drugs, skateboarding, and punk rock reigned. Between the youth shelters, suicidal thoughts, and haunted apartments, a light shined: and it was art.
He eventually found himself following the path of his brother, Rob, and pursuing life as a tattooist. Then, at the height of a destructive summer, everything changed: he met Megan, the girl who would become his rock of ages.
This remarkable memoir examines what tattooing means to MacDonald and traces the connection his artistic motives have to both his family and childhood. The Things I Came Here With is about how crucial our past is to understanding our future, but it’s also a love letter to his daughter about the importance of expression, life’s uncertainty, and beauty.
Chris and his brothers were as wild as the wind, in their house among the fields of Alliston, Ontario, when their parents divorced. Shell-shocked, they were uprooted and brought to Toronto by their dad. Their mother’s mental illness worsened in the aftermath, and she disappeared. As a teenager, Chris left home and found himself immersed in the city’s underbelly, a world where drugs, skateboarding, and punk rock reigned. Between the youth shelters, suicidal thoughts, and haunted apartments, a light shined: and it was art.
He eventually found himself following the path of his brother, Rob, and pursuing life as a tattooist. Then, at the height of a destructive summer, everything changed: he met Megan, the girl who would become his rock of ages.
This remarkable memoir examines what tattooing means to MacDonald and traces the connection his artistic motives have to both his family and childhood. The Things I Came Here With is about how crucial our past is to understanding our future, but it’s also a love letter to his daughter about the importance of expression, life’s uncertainty, and beauty.
260 pages, Paperback
First published October 18, 2022
About the author
Chris MacDonald
1 book2 followersChris MacDonald is a tattoo artist and the owner of Under My Thumb Tattoos, a respected tattoo studio in Toronto, Ontario. He is a songwriter and a guitarist with LeBarons. Chris lives with his wife and daughter by the lake. The Things I Came Here With is his first book.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 14, 2022
Sometimes books feel like they pick you. This was one of those ones for me. It’s a story about art, identity, and how grief can be a companion throughout your life. The balance between Chris’ insight into his past and anecdotes of life in the tattooing industry make this a real pleasure to read. Chris’ voice is honest, compelling, and poetic. If you have no idea what you’re doing or, similarly, you think you might be an artist, read this book.
September 9, 2022
This was a blast to read. It’s a very refreshing, down to earth perspective on the beginnings of a tattooer, musician, artist and father’s wild ride to becoming all of the above. If you have even a remote interest in any of those things, especially in the Toronto area, then the storytelling in this book will pull you in, and also spark a bit of nostalgia in you like it did in me. There’s a healthy dose of skateboarding, childhood adventures and some family drama mixed in there as well. It’s an exciting journey from start to finish. Loved it!
October 8, 2022
I burned through this book in just over two days. I became completely immersed in Chris' childhood, and found myself consistently wondering what would happen next. It's like a good friend telling you a story that you never want to end. It's filled with excellent nuggets of life wisdom, from someone who has truly earned things the hard way. Good job Chris, you are one talented dude.
December 8, 2022
✨BOOK REVIEW✨
The Things I Came Here With
By Chris MacDonald
I was first drawn to this book because of its beautiful cover, which reminded me of my tattoo.
An absolutely phenomenal debut, this memoir is going on my fave books of the year list.
Not going to lie, this one stirred up a lot of emotions for me.
I love when stories feel like they were written specifically for you to read them. This book was one of those for me. It was told just the way I like, raw, and truthful.
The way this book was broken down into small chapters, made it easy to read, but honestly I couldn’t set this one down anyway.
Reading this one took me right back to my youth.
I could really relate to having a troubled past, and with some of the issues addressed.
What I loved about this book is the message that it sends about one’s past. That no matter how lost or dark it gets, it made you the person you are today.
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the past, and some of the things we have done in our lives, but this book is testament that you should do the opposite and remember it all.
A truly beautiful book! Highly recommend!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thanks so much to @ecwpress and @netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to @the_red_beauty for sharing his story. This one is going on my Forever shelf❤️
The Things I Came Here With
By Chris MacDonald
I was first drawn to this book because of its beautiful cover, which reminded me of my tattoo.
An absolutely phenomenal debut, this memoir is going on my fave books of the year list.
Not going to lie, this one stirred up a lot of emotions for me.
I love when stories feel like they were written specifically for you to read them. This book was one of those for me. It was told just the way I like, raw, and truthful.
The way this book was broken down into small chapters, made it easy to read, but honestly I couldn’t set this one down anyway.
Reading this one took me right back to my youth.
I could really relate to having a troubled past, and with some of the issues addressed.
What I loved about this book is the message that it sends about one’s past. That no matter how lost or dark it gets, it made you the person you are today.
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the past, and some of the things we have done in our lives, but this book is testament that you should do the opposite and remember it all.
A truly beautiful book! Highly recommend!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thanks so much to @ecwpress and @netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to @the_red_beauty for sharing his story. This one is going on my Forever shelf❤️
December 12, 2022
The Things I Came Here With by Chris MacDonald and narrated by: Max Lloyd-Jones is a Memoir and what a wonderful audio book this was. I loved it. The narrator's voice was perfect for this audiobook and had you gripped from the beginning till the end. This is a book about Chris MacDonald's memoir, it examines what tattooing means to them all, and traces the connection of his artistic motives have to both his family and childhood.
The Things I Came Here With is about how crucial our past is to understanding our future. It is also a beautifully written love letter to his daughter about the importance of expression, life’s uncertainty, and beauty. and how art saved his life through his love of Ink in becoming a Tattooist.
This isn't a book I would of read or listened to but the cover just drew me in.
I highly recommend this book it was beautifully written and was just a wonderful audiobook/book.
The Things I Came Here With is about how crucial our past is to understanding our future. It is also a beautifully written love letter to his daughter about the importance of expression, life’s uncertainty, and beauty. and how art saved his life through his love of Ink in becoming a Tattooist.
This isn't a book I would of read or listened to but the cover just drew me in.
I highly recommend this book it was beautifully written and was just a wonderful audiobook/book.
November 30, 2022
Chris' book was beautifully moving to me because it felt honest. it felt like effort. there was an elegance to the chapters, to the stories, that balanced a lightness with the pain of the writing. I often find memoirs a challenge to read compared to literature because it can be difficult to really confront how someone else interprets their own stories, what order they tell them in, what they focus on, with an open heart instead of reflecting my own thoughts against them. But as someone who doesn't know the stories of some of my own family members, I recognize the beauty of Chris' laying his stories out as he has. Simply, elegantly. and while artist pursuits run through the book it is family that's the thread pulling the stories together. Or maybe that’s just me projecting—but if we don’t know a parent, if we can’t ask them questions, maybe that can lead to an impulse to share the parts of our life for our children. I’m an academic, I study ancient history, and with so much evidence about people’s daily lives lost, I always wish that we had a few more accounts of people’s own tellings of their stories. Like this contemporary one. And reading the wishes, the failures, the way that the author saw the world enriched me by giving insight into a perspective I wouldn't otherwise have known. Which is really what I want to read memoirs for.
I found Chris to give me my first tattoo a few years back, when I was in psychological pain and wanted some hurt on my skin to mark the hurt I felt inside. He did a gorgeous job. When I started reckoning this year with a breaking heart and planned a new piece, I opened his instagram back up and learned he’d written a book so I grabbed a copy alongside an appointment to get the new tattoo. I had already seen his art but I don't really know him. It's a beautiful gift he's given, to share his stories and let the world into his understanding of his life. And it pairs alongside the beauty of the art he creates, to explain some of the themes he pursues, and the statement, written across the shop window, that a tattoo hurts less than a broken heart.
I found Chris to give me my first tattoo a few years back, when I was in psychological pain and wanted some hurt on my skin to mark the hurt I felt inside. He did a gorgeous job. When I started reckoning this year with a breaking heart and planned a new piece, I opened his instagram back up and learned he’d written a book so I grabbed a copy alongside an appointment to get the new tattoo. I had already seen his art but I don't really know him. It's a beautiful gift he's given, to share his stories and let the world into his understanding of his life. And it pairs alongside the beauty of the art he creates, to explain some of the themes he pursues, and the statement, written across the shop window, that a tattoo hurts less than a broken heart.
November 14, 2022
I read this book so fast, it was such a good book! A wonderful read about how we all can be a little lost from time to time. It's a nice reminder to always root for the underdogs. Chris is a talented author.
November 11, 2022
One of the most honest and vulnerable coming of age stories I’ve ever read. You truly feel that Chris has left a part of himself in the pages. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those who grew up with art, music and skateboarding as their salvation. 11/10
October 25, 2022
A story about how art can save lives. It really is a must-read for those who may feel a little lost. MacDonald tells his story in simple, plain language, but still paints vivid, detailed portraits of people & places. You can hear the crunch of dirt roads in small-town Ontario; and feel the grit and darkness of Toronto before it was gentrified. This is a story that is, simple, raw, honest, heartbreaking, and finally, hopeful.
September 9, 2022
I absolutely loved this memoir. We follow Chris as a young kid growing up in small town Ontario and into adulthood as he faces challenges, many of which are completely out of his control. His storytelling is incredibly visual, and I felt transported to the time and place each chapter was was exploring. It's a story about the strength and struggle it takes to seek out the life you deserve, and how important the community you're surrounded by impacts that life. Most of all, it's a story about family - the family you're born with and the family you find along the way - and I loved it.
September 29, 2022
Great book. I enjoyed how it started with short chapters to get you into it. Then as it progressed it deepens a bit more. A great memoir on the ups and downs in life, tattooing industry, art, music and skateboarding. Loved it!
October 8, 2022
Chris is an incredible artist, and an amazing writer! His talent is unbound, this book is a testiment to his dedication to his creativity and passion. Genuine, honest, and beautiful, this book is a must-read.
October 18, 2022
Wow, loved The Things I Came Here With, By Chris MacDonald. Is it because Chris is family,no. It's because the book touched me in my heart with Chris's way with words. I could not put it down!
October 27, 2022
First I would rate this book at 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
The author tell his story growing up in Canada with a family in his younger years that seemed to be a loving a complete family who all seemed to have artistic talents. What you first hear about concerning his mother would be what many would consider actions of a person who was eccentric but as you follow along and for the author who does not come to full grips that his mother was suffering from a form of mental illness which would lead to the divorce of his mom and dad. Eventually the author father comes and takes him away and leaves his mother all alone at probably when she need family around to help the most. While going through High School the author decides that he can no longer live at home and moves into places that would be atrocious at best and shelters other times and many times with little to eat. This time is what the majority of the story covers and for me turned me off a little bit as it seemed like he glorified a lot of what took place during this time. I was attracted to this story because of the tattooing. His brother as described is a tattoo artist and eventually he is attracted to this art and profession but this only a small portion of the story and really does not start showing up till about two-thirds of the way through the story. Now looking at some of the pictures he posted in the book he is a talented artist, but this book is a little better than average. The one thing that for some reason sticks with me in this story was how no one was there for his mother, and she eventually disappeared.
The author tell his story growing up in Canada with a family in his younger years that seemed to be a loving a complete family who all seemed to have artistic talents. What you first hear about concerning his mother would be what many would consider actions of a person who was eccentric but as you follow along and for the author who does not come to full grips that his mother was suffering from a form of mental illness which would lead to the divorce of his mom and dad. Eventually the author father comes and takes him away and leaves his mother all alone at probably when she need family around to help the most. While going through High School the author decides that he can no longer live at home and moves into places that would be atrocious at best and shelters other times and many times with little to eat. This time is what the majority of the story covers and for me turned me off a little bit as it seemed like he glorified a lot of what took place during this time. I was attracted to this story because of the tattooing. His brother as described is a tattoo artist and eventually he is attracted to this art and profession but this only a small portion of the story and really does not start showing up till about two-thirds of the way through the story. Now looking at some of the pictures he posted in the book he is a talented artist, but this book is a little better than average. The one thing that for some reason sticks with me in this story was how no one was there for his mother, and she eventually disappeared.
December 15, 2022
““Does it hurt?” When you’re a tattoo artist, that’s the most universal question. For Chris MacDonald, the answer is simple: hurts less than a broken heart. Those words are painted above the entrance to his shop, Under My Thumb Tattoos, as a reminder.”
This books was an impulse read. Memoir? Canadian artist? Tattooist?
Sure. Why not?
Zero percent sorry I followed that squirrel.
Once you get beyond the clunky title (I know, I know, Stephen Fry would be ashamed of me) the book provides one beautifully crafted story after another.
Did I find them all riveting and necessary?
Not really. Other than to paint a sad-childhood picture, nothing much happened.
It doesn’t even really matter, though.
MacDonald has enough talent – both with skin and with words – that you don’t much care if there’s a cohesive thread between stories. You’re just interested in the next metaphor. The next simile.
Seriously, I’d line up to read any urban fantasy this guy cares to write.
Bonus points for the Point Break reference.
7.5/10
Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for this ARC.
This books was an impulse read. Memoir? Canadian artist? Tattooist?
Sure. Why not?
Zero percent sorry I followed that squirrel.
Once you get beyond the clunky title (I know, I know, Stephen Fry would be ashamed of me) the book provides one beautifully crafted story after another.
Did I find them all riveting and necessary?
Not really. Other than to paint a sad-childhood picture, nothing much happened.
It doesn’t even really matter, though.
MacDonald has enough talent – both with skin and with words – that you don’t much care if there’s a cohesive thread between stories. You’re just interested in the next metaphor. The next simile.
Seriously, I’d line up to read any urban fantasy this guy cares to write.
Bonus points for the Point Break reference.
7.5/10
Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for this ARC.
May 16, 2024
“Does it hurt? Hurts less than a broken heart.”
I am not sure how or where I came across this book, but I was immediately drawn by the tittle.
This is a memoir book where the author revisits his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. I tend to like books about normal people, living their “ordinary” lives. Despite Chris’ life being anything but ordinary and surely completely different from my own life, I found a sense of comfort in this book.
Ultimately this book is about grief and art and how grief fueled the author’s art and how art helped him process grief.
To top it all of this book is beautifully written: the chapters are small insights into different moments of the author’s life and there are some really poetic lines.
“People say not to dwell on the past, but the past is the future because it tells is who we are now. The past holds the key to understanding why we do the things the way we do.”
I am not sure how or where I came across this book, but I was immediately drawn by the tittle.
This is a memoir book where the author revisits his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. I tend to like books about normal people, living their “ordinary” lives. Despite Chris’ life being anything but ordinary and surely completely different from my own life, I found a sense of comfort in this book.
Ultimately this book is about grief and art and how grief fueled the author’s art and how art helped him process grief.
To top it all of this book is beautifully written: the chapters are small insights into different moments of the author’s life and there are some really poetic lines.
“People say not to dwell on the past, but the past is the future because it tells is who we are now. The past holds the key to understanding why we do the things the way we do.”
December 24, 2022
I received this book from the publisher through netgalley.com I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really liked this book. I wish Chris had narrated the audio book but the narrator was engaging and really good. Chris came from a very creative family. His mother was always painting murals, walls, furniture with colorful picture. They didn't always have much but they were happy.
After his mother's mental illness worsened he and his brothers went to live with their dad. Wild and used to being out running around the woods being in a city brought with it drugs, mischief and chaos.
After having his daughter Chris took stock of his life and realized that coming to terms with his past and staying true to himself led him to fulfill his dreams. You can find his work at @underyourthumbtattoos
I was very engaged by this book and while Chris's story is filled with ups and downs its a lesson on endurance, survival, and finding your passion.
I really liked this book. I wish Chris had narrated the audio book but the narrator was engaging and really good. Chris came from a very creative family. His mother was always painting murals, walls, furniture with colorful picture. They didn't always have much but they were happy.
After his mother's mental illness worsened he and his brothers went to live with their dad. Wild and used to being out running around the woods being in a city brought with it drugs, mischief and chaos.
After having his daughter Chris took stock of his life and realized that coming to terms with his past and staying true to himself led him to fulfill his dreams. You can find his work at @underyourthumbtattoos
I was very engaged by this book and while Chris's story is filled with ups and downs its a lesson on endurance, survival, and finding your passion.
January 8, 2024
This novel is more of a series of essays than a full-on narrative memoir. I like that each short piece can stand independently, making it easy to read, put down, and return to. I read the author's note that he wrote the first draft of the novel on his phone, and it made me smile because it has a Notes app vibe that might feel familiar to anyone who taps their thoughts out as they appear.
The book is touching and emotional, giving you a glimpse into the author's life. It doesn't dive super-deep into everything but peels back layers bit by bit, showing as much as the author is comfortable with. Overall, it's a simple yet powerful memoir that lets you explore the author's experiences movingly.
The book is touching and emotional, giving you a glimpse into the author's life. It doesn't dive super-deep into everything but peels back layers bit by bit, showing as much as the author is comfortable with. Overall, it's a simple yet powerful memoir that lets you explore the author's experiences movingly.
February 15, 2023
Review pending
Read
March 19, 2023Clearly I'm not the reader for this book...
DNF
DNF
Read
December 27, 2023This book reads like a Sliding Doors of my life
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews