John Paul Brammer has written a memoir disguised as responses to very basic one sentence advice column questions. Brammer’s words are interesting and worthwhile, but if you wrote to him and got a long personal essay about something that happened in his life that shaped his worldview, tangentially linked to your incredibly vague question, would you be happy?

Still, there are essay collections that are constructed on flimsier pretexts, and ¡Hola Papi! has a clear thesis and through line. Brammer only barely scratches the surface of his imposter syndrome, and you’d think he only had a mother and an abuela if you didn’t see that he thanks his father (mentioned in passing) and sister in the acknowledgements.

Within its bounds, ¡Hola Papi! is a slim volume that gives a strong sense of Brammer’s character — enough to know if you'd like to spend more time with him. Maybe his advice will help you, but that’s the least useful approach to reading the book.