Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Memoirs
Weblink
michaelianblack.typepad.com

NAVEL GAZING

Michael Ian Black

True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird)

New York Times bestselling author and stand-up comedian Michael Ian Black delivers a frank and funny memoir about confronting his genetic legacy as he hits his forties.

Whether it’s family history, religion, aging, or his parents, Michael Ian Black always has something to say in the dry, irreverent voice that has captured a fan base of millions. When a medical diagnosis forces him to realize he’s not getting any younger, he reexamines his life as a middle-aged guy—of course, in the deadpan wit and self-deprecating vignettes that have become trademarks of his humor.

The alt-comedy take on getting older, Navel Gazing is a funny-because-it’s-true memoir about looking around when you’re forty and realizing that life is about more than receding hairlines and proving one’s manliness on Twitter—it’s about laughing at yourself.

Michael Ian Black has starred in many television series and films including Michael & Michael Have Issues, Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer, Viva Variety, VH1’s I Love the… series, and NBC’s Ed. He wrote the screenplay for Run, Fat Boy, Run, and wrote and directed the film Wedding Daze. He is the author of the essay collections My Custom Van—a New York Times bestseller—and You’re Not Doing It Right, and four children’s books, Chicken Cheeks, The Purple Kangaroo, I’m Bored, and Naked. He has appeared on This American Life and is also a very famous stand-up comedian and world champion poker player (not true). He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids.

Available products
Book Published 2016-01-05
Book Published 2016-01-05

Comments

Black sustains a light touch throughout, projecting a warmth that extends from his relationship with his mother through his family life with wife and children.

NAVEL GAZING is anything but -- an emphatic, wired-to-the-world examination of fate and fragility. And it's so...fucking...funny.

Set him on the recommended shelf beside Sedaris and Fey.

It's funny and sad and ridiculous and searching and humane and the gravitas sneaks up on you, and the last page had me in tears.

Michael Ian Black asked me if I would provide a quote for his book and I said that I would.

I don’t know what’s more gut wrenching - the tales of his mom’s illness or the time he tried to start a punk band. This book is so touching, well-written, dare I say profound? Okay how about totally life affirming? These pages are so beautiful they don’t deserve to also be fall down funny. Michael Ian Black is showing off. This book made me giggle wildly, then shook me with the reminder of mine and everyone’s impending death, brought comfort, and then more giggles. And then in honor of Michael, I took a nap.

All these years, Michael Ian Black has not gotten enough credit for what a good writer he is. This book is charming and good company and—best of all—amazingly honest. And really, really funny, of course—though you probably already guessed at that part.

Solid, sensitive, and often appropriately silly... Unlike many other books by comedians, this memoir never feels like a series of onstage routines transcribed to make a buck. Black’s examination of the many meanings of being a middle-aged father, husband, and son is an insightful and eminently readable story.