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damesies's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this memoir of stylized essays, mostly encompassing medical maladies of body or behavior, is oh so bittersweet.
Within a few years after this book published, he lost one of his sons to brain cancer at age three, and as a father, I was crushed as he waxed emphatic about being a dad and the dire need to outlive his children. I can’t imagine.
Yeah, there’s much butthole talk. But Rob’s long form is as real and poignant as his wry tweets. He’s a guy who lived a life and doesn’t try to dress it up, and it was a pleasure to read about it.
Within a few years after this book published, he lost one of his sons to brain cancer at age three, and as a father, I was crushed as he waxed emphatic about being a dad and the dire need to outlive his children. I can’t imagine.
Yeah, there’s much butthole talk. But Rob’s long form is as real and poignant as his wry tweets. He’s a guy who lived a life and doesn’t try to dress it up, and it was a pleasure to read about it.
klsreads's review against another edition
4.0
Brutally honest and hilarious. It's wonderful to see someone come out on the other side of addiction to do fantastic, ridiculous, and important things. It's clear that Rob Delaney loves his life and he makes you love his journey as well.
grid's review against another edition
4.0
Listened to Delaney read this as an audiobook. Very funny.
livrad's review against another edition
2.0
Rob Delaney is hilarious, as evidenced by his writing and work on Catastrophe. I wish that was on greater display in this book, for which Catastrophe would have been an apt title. For the vast majority of this book, Rob is talking about either A) endangering his own life because he was incredibly intoxicated and stupid, B) endangering someone else's life because he was incredibly intoxicated and stupid, C) was so intoxicated, he blacked out and can't remember who he endangered, D) is wetting either his own bed--or usually someone else's, E) is masturbating, or F) is having a bowel movement. There is no one, NO one in the world I needed to know this much about, and I don't find being black-out drunk and possibly killing other people to be the stuff of comedy.
offbalance80's review against another edition
3.0
It was my love of the Amazon original series Catastrophe that caused me to pick up Delaney's memoir - I figured that one half of the creative team behind that brilliant series would make for a good read, and I was not wrong. Delaney's book contains some terrific essays on his misadventures with romance, growing up, and learning how to be sober. His experiences with the latter are the most compelling, Delaney goes into great (but genial) detail about his mishaps and even time spent in serious rehab and a halfway house. Still, I would have appreciated less talk of shit in all of its forms, and I was similarly put off by the way he talked about his kids. I'm so glad he loves his sons, truly happy. But his descriptions of smelling them made me wonder if he was just an addict looking for a different fix. Maybe because I'm not an addict OR a parent, I'm just not getting the joke. This is a solid outing, otherwise.
thomasdevito's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
alittleoverdue's review against another edition
4.0
I hadn't heard of Rob Delaney before until I heard an interview with him on the TBTL podcast, and I was really curious to read his book after that. It's a highly readable memoir of humor and addiction. There's also a cool format to the book, which you'll see what I mean when you read it (and you should read it). Delaney describes the experience of depression the best way I've ever heard anyone describe it before. He strikes a good balance between finding humor in serious situations, yet also treating such serious stuff with the gravity and perspective it deserves.