Welcome to Litsy!

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/O-3AHqlcN78

Enjoy!

Harris was such an amazing talent - this was a hard but authentic read.

This book was so full of heart and insight. I could feel the author‘s emotion through her writing and I found this to be such an honest account of loss and grief. Funny and heartbreaking all the same and very important. Loved this!

With so many available words to depict the gravity of a thought, constant overuse of the f-bomb instead is maddening.

This could have been a very important book on grief. I‘ve been there, thought those thoughts, and said the same things while processing the pain. I get that, and it‘s comforting to know it‘s normal. But the crude writing was so distracting, the tragedy of the story behind the grief got lost somewhere.

I can‘t decide if I want to read this book. From what I‘ve read, I don‘t think Harris is particularly funny, I didn‘t like the shows he wrote for, and I‘m not really into comedy.

BUT I think his death from an opiate overdose is tragic, and I‘m having a hard time turning away from his sister‘s pain.

Help? Advice?

Catherine Ricketts‘ stunning and beautiful essay on The Millions is worth reading and pondering. https://themillions.com/2018/10/what-i-saw-when-i-really-looked-my-late-brother-... (Had me reflecting back on Stephanie Wittels‘ journey in her powerful memoir about losing her brother, comedian and actor Harris Wittels.)

Anyone else pick up the #hoopla book club pick? Has anyone read it? What did you think?

Also I‘m sorry I‘ve been absent lately. I‘ve been sick and having after effects from the treatments. I‘m really frustrated with it. I still love and miss everyone. 💕😘

I'm glad that I decided to go with the audio version of this book. Listening to the author read added to the emotional intensity of the story. You can hear all of her love, anger, and sadness. This book is great not only for Parks and Rec fans who want to learn more about Harris Wittels, but also for anyone who wants to learn more about the current opiate epidemic and how the rehab system are failing to provide effective treatment.

A book that hits so close to home for me. Sad, hilarious, poignant, infuriating. Harris Wittels was one of my favorite comedians and his sister is now one of my favorite writers. She verbalized everything I couldn‘t find the words for over the last three years. A great, insightful read - especially if you‘re lucky enough to never have lost anyone to an overdose.

Crying about every five pages. Little bit because I liked Harris Wittels work on Parks and Recreation, little bit because I am an older sister to a brother, and a little bit because my brother is an alcoholic and I am very worried about his future. Heartbreaking read.

So heartfelt and raw and wonderful and horrible. Triggers all over the place for addiction and death but damn, y‘all.

I‘d be similarly devastated if I lost my brother. Wachs weaves in concern about her daughter‘s hearing loss, which she struggled with concurrently. I understand her parental fears, but the judgment of what it means to be deaf annoys me. My mom was fed similar warnings about my development. But... idk. Deaf culture is rich & supportive. Becoming part of it is not a worst case scenario. My perception of that judgement pulled me out of her story.

I can tell that this must have been cathartic to write but gosh... I kind of wish I hadn‘t read it. It‘s good and there are some laughs, but mostly just sad.

As you can tell from the cover, lots of comedians are featured but it‘s definitely not comedy.

#memoir #drugabuse

Started listening to this yesterday on the way to an event without realizing how utterly depressing it was. Not sure why I was expecting anything else but wow, so heavy.

Grim portrait of what heroin does to people although there is some comedic relief. The writing is beautiful.

#memoir #drugabuse

Technology failed me today 😡 so I quit and I‘m now having pizza, ice cream, and watching dumb movies on netflix. Here‘s what I read in May, favorites were “Everything is Horrible and Wonderful” and “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.” Another month of all non-fiction... hmm 🤔 #may #mayrecap #maybooks

Moving.

Half of me wants to read another book about someone ordinary who died of a heroin overdose. Then I see this and remember this is what is common to all of us after the death.

#readathon #deweys24hourreadathon #heroin #overdose

I seriously hope I‘m not picking another triggering book. I‘ve seen close family die of heroin once. That was more than enough.

Picked this up because I deeply love Parks and Rec, kept with it because it‘s wonderfully written and full of insights re: addiction and grief. I liked it very much.

Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read this beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking, important story. I have to catch my breath after this one.