A tale of life, death and a highly chlorinated YMCA pool. Award-winning comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia's "coming-of-middle-age story" is a hilarious reminder for all of us recovering from failing bodies and a flailing world that laughter is indeed the best medicine.
In this hilarious and heartwarming one-man show, Mike Birbiglia poses the question: "What can I teach my daughter?" Through a series of comedic rants about sex talks, children's birthday parties and the story of his father's recent stroke, he attempts to answer this question. Then, he poses a few more.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An inspiring and entertaining collection of unforgettable true stories about finding unexpected beauty in life’s transitions—from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elizabeth Gilbert, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and many more. “The Moth taught me how to be vulnerable, how to take my time, and how to listen to someone else’s story and share in their moments of triumph, laughter, or, yes, sometimes embarrassment with an open heart.”—Mike Birbiglia, from the Foreword An international rescue mission for Paddington Bear. A family matriarch running numbers in Detroit. An epic Lucha Libre showdown in Mexico City. A beach vacation spent looking for the Kennedys. Storytellers from around the world share times they found real beauty in the moments when their lives changed forever—for better or for worse. Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of stories told live, on stage, and without notes, A Point of Beauty features voices familiar and new. This collection offers a shared message: If we look closely enough, we can find power in strengthening frayed bonds but also in having the courage to walk away from things that no longer feed our spirit. Through these storytellers’ passion and their hope, they teach us all about what’s worth holding on to: our relationships with those we love the most, our understanding of ourselves, and—of course—gathering together to tell and listen to our stories.
Comedian Mike Birbiglia’s hilarious New York Times bestseller is now a major motion picture co-written and produced by Ira Glass (This American Life) starring Birbiglia and Emmy-nominated actress Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under).Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor Sleepwalk with Me is a comedic memoir, but I’m only thirty-two years old, so I’d hate for you to think I’m “wrapping it up,” so to speak. But I tell some really personal stories. Stories that I considered not publishing time and time again—about my childhood, about girls I made out with when I was thirteen, about my parents, and, of course, about my bouts with sleepwalking. Bring this book to bed. And sleepwalk with me.
Mike Birbiglia never wanted to be a father. In fact, there are seven very specific reasons he never wanted a kid, including his aversion to sticky surfaces and his less-than-ideal genes: he's had Lyme Disease, a bladder tumor, diabetes, and dangerous sleepwalking, to name a few. Not to mention the fact that Mike generally doesn't think people (including himself) are really all that great.Then Mike's wife, poet Jen Hope Stein, becomes infected with the contagion "baby fever" and convinces him she'll do all of the parenting and that their lives don't have to change because of future baby Oona. Yes, he bought that line.In a hilarious memoir about the trials and tribulations of parenting, Mike Birbiglia shares anecdotes all parents can relate to, including laugh-out-loud observations on the lead up to being a parent, the birth of the baby, and the very messy aftermath of bringing this new one home...for a forever stay! Borne out of and based on his Broadway show The New One, and entirely expanded upon with at least 50% new material for this book, new dad Birbiglia will have you crying from laughter and smiling with joy as he falls in love with baby Oona, despite how smelly she is!Mike's candid thoughts on his reluctance about becoming a dad, what he describes as being the "pudgy milkless vice president of his family," laced with Stein's poetry combine to form a heartfelt and hilarious book.