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Exit Laughing

How Humor Takes the Sting Out of Death

Victoria Zackheim

$39.99

Paperback

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English
North Atlantic Books,U.S.
15 July 2012
Series: Io Series
Exit Laughing is more than a collection of twenty-four personal stories, written by some of our country's finest authors, on the subject of death and humor. It's a reminder that all of us approach death in very different ways. Whether we face our death or the death of a loved one with fear, sorrow, joy, or confusion, and whether or not we believe in an afterlife, we cannot deny that death happens. Exit Laughing reminds us that in death there is a place for humor. Ellen Sussman writes of flying home her mother's body and watching her mother's burial wardrobe spill out on the baggage carousel. Kathi Kamen Goldmark regales us with memories of playing the kazoo at Jessica Mitford's funeral. Broadway and television actor Richard McKenzie shares the riotous story of a funeral procession led by a lost hearse. Bonnie Garvin writes about her parents' double suicide attempt (and yes, it's funny!). Joshua Braff recalls a death in an upstairs bedroom during his childhood, Roadrunner cartoons included. L.A. Law star and author Michael Tucker describes his last visit with his dying friend, Cleavon Little, and how they said goodbye. International bestselling novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard writes about her husband's untimely death, and how his three best friends ended up held in a psychiatric hospital after the wake. These stories, along with seventeen other memorable essays, constitute a book whose purpose is to remind readers that when dealing with illness, dying, and death, there is an important place for laugh-out-loud humor.
Edited by:  
Imprint:   North Atlantic Books,U.S.
Country of Publication:   United States
Volume:   71
Dimensions:   Height: 215mm,  Width: 141mm,  Spine: 16mm
Weight:   354g
ISBN:   9781583944073
ISBN 10:   1583944079
Series:   Io Series
Pages:   304
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Victoria Zackheim is author of The Bone Weaver, a novel, and the editor of five anthologies- The Other Woman, which was on the national bestseller list in Canada for several weeks, For Keeps, The Face in the Mirror, and He Said What?. Her play based on five essays from The Other Woman will begin a six-week theater run in summer 2012. Zackheim teaches Personal Essay in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and is a frequent speaker at writers' conferences, non-profit educational and philanthropic organizations, and book fairs. A 2010 San Francisco Library Laureate, she is actively involved in social media including Facebook, Goodreads, Redroom, Shewrites, and the AARP Writers Forum. A graduate of UCLA (BA) and San Francisco State University (MA), she lives in San Francisco.

Reviews for Exit Laughing: How Humor Takes the Sting Out of Death

From beloved husbands to difficult mothers and more, this moving and often fiercely funny collection illuminates with grace, humor, and a few belly laughs the way someone's death can change our lives. --Caroline Leavitt, New York Times best-selling author of Pictures of You <br> <br> In a culture where the discussion of death is basically taboo, the authors in Exit Laughing relate their stories with candor, compassion, love, and yes, humor. A perfect mix of gravitas and levity to the subject nobody wants to talk about: mortality. As funny and poignant as Harold and Maude , Exit Laughing makes it clear that even the Grim Reaper will put on a monkey face and maybe even giggle, when tickled. --Sara Pritchard, author of Crackpots and Help Wanted: Female<br> <br> I love this anthology! Absorbing, poignantly moving, but most of all, profoundly life-affirming. --Sandra Gulland, best-selling author, Mistress of the Sun and The Josephine B. Trilogy


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