The Call I Almost Missed: 365 Days Without a Cell Phone and What It Taught Me About Love, Presence, and the Lies We Live

Tommy Short never missed a call. But he almost missed himself.

In 2023, Tommy Short, keynote speaker and author, gave up his phone for a year.

He discovered that he wasn't just addicted to the device; he was addicted to the identity it allowed him to curate. To being in control. To the dopamine drips of notifications and likes.

To the illusion that he was important.

Tommy thought losing his phone would be the hard part.

He was wrong.

Told through a series of intimate letters to his two young daughters, The Call I Almost Missed is part memoir, part manifesto. In this deeply personal exploration of identity, fatherhood, marriage, faith, and the sacredness of slowing down, Tommy invites you into the year that remade him.

Poetic, piercing, and profoundly human, The Call I Almost Missed isn't about giving up your phone. It's about reclaiming your soul.

Author: Tommy Short
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Houndstooth Press
Published: 03/31/2026
Pages: 358
Weight: 1.21lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9781544551500