The Things I Came Here With: A Memoir

Tattooist MacDonald offers a memoir that is a love letter not only to his childhood but also to the healing power of art. Nostalgic and chaotic, MacDonald’s memoir showcases a tumultuous childhood that got messier with the divorce of his parents and his mother’s struggles with a mental health condition. As a teenager, MacDonald lost himself in the seedy underbelly of Toronto, spending his time skateboarding, living in youth shelters, and contending with suicidal thoughts and drugs. Throughout it all, one thread tied his childhood, teenage rebellion, and future career together—art. Always susceptible to his older brother’s influence (good and bad), MacDonald eventually followed his brother’s lead and became a tattoo artist. Narrator Max Lloyd-Jones gives a masterful performance of MacDonald’s many anecdotes and interesting stories about the tattoo industry. Lloyd-Jones is so skilled and seemingly invested in the narration that listeners may forget that he is telling someone else’s story.