A laugh-out-loud, kick-in-the-pants self-help narrative for anyone who ever felt like they didn’t fit in or couldn’t catch a break—comedian and cult hero Chris Gethard shows us how to get over our fear of failure and start living life on our own terms.
Let’s face it: we all want a seat at the cool table, a great job, and loads of money. But most of us won’t be able to achieve this widely accepted, black-or-white, definition of winning, which makes us feel like failures, that we’re destined to a life of loserdom. That’s the conventional wisdom. It’s also crap, according to comedian and cult hero Chris Gethard, who knows a thing of two about losing. Failing is an art form, he argues; in fact, it’s the only the way we’re ever going to discover who we are, what we really want, and how to live the kind of life we only dreamed about.
Setting flame to vision boards and tossing out the "seven simple steps" to achieving anything, host of the wildly popular podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People illustrates his personal and professional manifesto with hilarious and ultimately empowering stories about his own set-backs, missteps, and public failures, from the cancellation of his Comedy Central sitcom after seven episodes to rediscovering his comedic voice and life’s purpose on a public access channel.
With his trademark wit and inspiring storytelling—a cross between David Sedaris and Jenny Lawson—Gethard teaches us how to power through our own hero’s journey, whether we’re a fifteen-year-old starting a punk band or a fifty-year-old mother of three launching an Etsy page. In the process, he shows us how to fail with grace, laugh on the way down, and as we dust ourselves off, how to transform inevitable failures into endless opportunities. It might get a little messy, but that’s exactly the point. Because the first step in living on your own terms is learning how to lose well, and more often than not, the revolutionary act of failing lets us witness firsthand what awaits us on the other side.
Author Info
CHRIS GETHARD is a comedian and creator of The Chris Gethard Show and host of the popular weekly podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. His Judd Apatow-produced one-man show, Career Suicide, premiered on HBO and was nominated for the Lucille Lortel award for its off-Broadway run. He lives in Queens, New York.
Reviews
“If anyone can get you to give your dreams an honest shot, it’s Chris Gethard, the king of somehow turning defeats into victories.” — JUDD APATOW, comedian, writer, and director
“This is funny, sure, but it’s very much more. Chris speaks inspirational life truths to the outsider in all of us. A pithy road map of the antiestablishment path by which one can succeed in comedy and life. Gethard gets it.” — NICK OFFERMAN, actor, comedian, and author of the New York Times bestselling Paddle Your Own Canoe
“I was on the altar of Chris Gethard’s wedding, when he was waiting a really long time for his bride to show up. Like, so long. I figured, based on his past life experiences, that it wasn’t going to end well. Anyway, that’s what this book is like.” — MIKE BIRBIGLIA, comedian, actor, and author of the New York Times bestselling Sleepwalk with Me—and Other Painfully True Stories
“…Gethard’s writing style is effortless and enjoyable, and his beliefs are compassionate and encouraging. Fans will be thrilled to dive deeper into his life and work, and anyone else stuck in a rut will find permission to go out and try—and fail—as often and as well as possible.” — Publishers Weekly
“Chris Gethard’s Lose Well will change the way you think about failure. It’s funny, heartfelt, and full of advice that every creative person needs to hear.” — Hello Giggles
“…the sort of vulnerable, honest, and spoken-from-experience material that’s earned him such a strong online following… and qualifies him to write a book like Lose Well.“ — A/V Club
