Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri shares her stories of awkwardness in this insightful and supremely funny debut. Most twentysomethings avoid awkwardness. Not Alexandra Petri. She auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. She lost Jeopardy! by answering “Who is that dude?” One time, she let some cult members baptize her, just to be polite. Alexandra Petri is a connoisseur of the kind of awkwardness most people spend lifetimes avoiding. If John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris had a baby. . .they would never let Petri babysit it. Here, the Washington Post columnist turns her satirical eye on her own life—with hilarious results. And she’s here to tell you that interesting things start to happen when you stop caring what people think.
A finalist for the Thurber Prize With new essays on the crises of 2020 “Amazing.” —Amy Schumer In Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, acclaimed Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri offers perfectly logical, reassuring reasons for everything that has happened in recent American politics that will in no way unsettle your worldview. In essays both new and adapted from her viral columns, Petri reports that the Trump administration was as competent as it was uncorrupted, white supremacy has never been less rampant, and men have been silenced for too long. The “woman card” is a powerful card to play! Q-Anon makes perfect sense! This Panglossian venture into our swampy present offers a virtuosic first draft of history that chronicles the chaotic half-decade from the twilight of the Obama years to the final gasp of the Trump administration. “One of the difficulties of being alive today,” Petri notes, “is that everything is absurd but fewer and fewer things are funny.” Written with devastating wit that reveals a persistent, perhaps manic optimism about her benighted country, Petri’s essays have become iconic expressions of rage and anger, read and liked and shared by hundreds of thousands of people. Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why shows why she has emerged as the preeminent political satirist of her generation.
#1 New York Times Bestseller “Funny and smart as hell” (Bill Gates), Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half showcases her unique voice, leaping wit, and her ability to capture complex emotions with deceptively simple illustrations. FROM THE PUBLISHER: Every time Allie Brosh posts something new on her hugely popular blog Hyperbole and a Half the internet rejoices. This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features more than fifty percent new content, with ten never-before-seen essays and one wholly revised and expanded piece as well as classics from the website like, “The God of Cake,” “Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving,” and her astonishing, “Adventures in Depression,” and “Depression Part Two,” which have been hailed as some of the most insightful meditations on the disease ever written. Brosh’s debut marks the launch of a major new American humorist who will surely make even the biggest scrooge or snob laugh. We dare you not to. FROM THE AUTHOR: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative—like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it—but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book: Pictures Words Stories about things that happened to me Stories about things that happened to other people because of me Eight billion dollars* Stories about dogs The secret to eternal happiness* *These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!
An introvert braves the cybersex, the pitfalls of eating out alone, the difficulties of weight gain, and other hurdles faced by shy people living in a world that urges us to be cool as "J" humorously recounts her life in all its awkward glory.
Struggle to hold people’s attention and keep them interested? Always feel stuck in boring interview mode? Whether you want to befriend strangers more easily, banter more smoothly with friends, or simply avoid the crushing tension of a never ending silence, Awkward Silences is the book you need to succeed. No more conversations that end prematurely - not by choice. Discover the subtle and nuanced tactics that allow you to seize control of any conversation and create social chemistry. This book will arm you with definitive tactics, maneuvers, and replies to whatever comes your way. This book is highly actionable, with step-by-step analyses of complex concepts like sarcasm, the ultimate witty comeback, conflict conversations, and storytelling. You’ll get exact words and phrases, NOT just “be confident and make eye contact.” Avoid those embarrassing, cringe-worthy moments. In Awkward Silences, you have renowned social skills and international bestselling author Patrick King showing you the ropes. Social interaction can be boiled down to a science if approached correctly, and he’ll do it for you. Never feel boring or uninteresting again. •How to set an engaging tone right off the bat. •The vocabulary and inflection details that make you attractive. •Storytelling essentials - unlike anything you’ve read before. •Elements of sarcasm, witty comebacks, and self-deprecation. Push people’s buttons that instantly make them responsive and interested. •How to introduce conversational diversity and break out of your patterns and routines. •Six types of responses you can summon in any situation. •Your habits that lead directly to awkward silences. •Common awkward situations and how to handle them correctly. Demonstrate social value and grace.
With her debut novel, If You Were Here, Jen Lancaster “[leapt] into the fiction arena with her rapier-sharp wit in one hand and a fistful of Home Depot gift cards in the other” (New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson). Now she goes from the trauma of home renovation to the drama of soul renovation in Here I Go Again.... Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped…beloved…feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband, and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business from her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom. Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?
The #1 New York Times bestselling (mostly true) memoir from the hilarious author of Furiously Happy. “Gaspingly funny and wonderfully inappropriate.”—O, The Oprah Magazine When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it. In the irreverent Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments—the ones we want to pretend never happened—are the very same moments that make us the people we are today. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives. Readers Guide Inside
In Where You Once Belonged, the bestselling and award-winning novelist of Eventide, Kent Haruf tells of a small-town hero who is dealt an enviable hand--and cheats with all of the cards. Deftly plotted, defiantly honest, Where You Once Belonged sings the song of a wounded prairie community in a narrative with the earmarks of a modern American classic. In prose as lean and supple as a spring switch, Haruf describes a high school football star who wins the heart of the loveliest girl in the county and the admiration of men twice his age. Fun-loving, independent, Burdette engages in the occasional prank. But when he turns into a man, his high jinks turn into crimes--with unspeakable consequences. Now, eight years later, Burdette has returned to commit his greatest trespass of all. And the people of Holt may not be able to stop him.
No more blanking or awkward silences. No more running out of things to say and struggling to keep others engaged. (1) Conversation isn’t scripted, (2) it’s 100% unpredictable, and (3) it can be terrifying at times. How do you prepare for such a thing? By learning how to apply improv comedy techniques to roll with any punch and improve your conversations and social interactions. Become quicker and more clever in daily conversation. Improv(e) Your Conversations teaches the ingenious rules of improv comedy that allow performers to turn boring prompts into memorable interactions worthy of standing ovations. This means there are real frameworks and templates to escape interview mode small talk – and start connecting and building rapport from the moment you say “Hello.” This book goes through over 15 of the most helpful and insightful improv comedy techniques with countless real-life examples to make you a great talker. Learn the conversational secrets of the world’s best comedians. Patrick King is an internationally bestselling author and social skills coach. His writing draws of a variety of sources, from scientific research, academic experience, coaching, and real life experience. Over 15 actionable tips that are actually practical and relateable. •The three easy ways to always know what to say, even when your mind goes blank. •What Sherlock Holmes has to do with great rapport. •How to read people better and what to look for. •The one goal you must always keep in mind (that you probably don’t even know). Adapt, witty comeback, reply, and charm in record time. •What causes awkward silences and how to prevent them. •How your conversation should resemble a movie. •How to “flip the switch” to be more entertaining.
“Sunlight and Joy” is Barbara Delinsky’s heartwarming story about a couple relearning how to appreciate the simple things. Also included is an exclusive conversation with Barbara about what inspires her writing and an advance peek at her newest novel, Escape. Blessed with three wonderful children and a life full of material comforts, Rick and Ellen have always had a happy, if increasingly busy, marriage. But when Rick announces that he’s been offered a promotion that will make the family pick up and move across country for a fourth time, Ellen is dismayed; she and their children have made a life for themselves in Portsmouth, not to mention that she is about to reach a pivotal point in her own teaching career. Ellen has always supported Rick’s dreams. What will he do when she tells him that she doesn’t want to start all over again for a job that will only make their lives more frantic?
