Ty Reads "Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love and Loss"
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Six years ago a very funny comedy writer, actor and comedian named Harris Wittels died. He died of a drug overdose. It was shocking.
I did not know Wittels personally, but I was a big fan of his work. His jokes on "Parks and Rec" were the absolute best. You could tell when it was a Harris Wittels joke too. It hit differently. When he started to show up on the show as Harris the animal control guy, he stole every scene he was in. I was just as big a fan of his "Comedy Bang! Bang!" appearances. He would go on with Adam Scott and Chelsea Peretti and they would do something they called "Farts and Procreation". These episodes are the best podcast episodes that have ever been made. They were bizarre and wild and very talky, but man was Harris Wittels funny, and he was the funniest one on these podcasts. When he would go into "Harris' Foam Corner", I would be absolutely rolling with laughter. I also enjoyed the show "Master of None", and knew he was going to work on that. I also have gone back and watched the episodes of "The Sarah Silverman Project" that he worked on, and those are best. He was a comedic genius, and to die at 30, that is tragic.
Life goes on, and, while still watching and listening and enjoying everything he was a part of, I moved on to other comedic stuff. But maybe a year or so back, Harris Wittels sister Stephanie Wittels Wachs was going on podcasts and promoting a new book she wrote. The book is called "Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir on Heroin, Love and Loss". I listened to her talk about the book, and was intrigued. But, I had forgotten about it. Then, right before the holidays, I went back and listened to all of the "Farts and Procreation" stuff, all of "Harris' Foam Corner" and watched the episodes that he was on of "Parks and Rec". Then I remembered that there was this book out there about his last year on Earth, and the impact it had on his family and friends. I asked for it for Xmas and my mother in law bought it for me. I started to read it last Saturday, and I finished it this afternoon.
This is one of the best, most brutal, most truthful, most gut wrenching books that I have ever read. And I absolutely loved it. When we get memoirs of famous people that die young, they are usually written by a parent or a journalist that covered them. This book was written by his sister. She was the closest person to him according to the book. It also gives the reader a whole different perspective. Stephanie Wittels Wachs knew her brother better than all of us. She was closer to him than anyone else. She loved him warts and all. She stood by his side, fought for and with him and loved him harder than anyone else. So to read about her experience, it was brutal and perfect. She told it all. We got the entire inside scoop of what his last year was like, and the horrific year that followed. This book moved me. I have never dealt with a tragedy that comes anything close to this. But I do have brothers. Reading this book had me question how I would react to a horrible scenario like this. I can say that I do not want to have to ever deal with anything like this ever. But that is what makes this book so great. She tells it all. She lays her soul bare. I respect the honesty that she wrote this book with. It had to be so hard and awful and terrible, but also maybe a bit of a good purging type thing. She says, and I believe it is very true, that she will never forget, that she will always think of him, that he will always be a part of her life, but that it is okay to live your life. To do things that the living do. It got to points in this book where I would, not stop thinking about Harris Wittels, but kind of want to know how Stephanie Wittels Wachs was doing, or her mom and dad, or Harris's friends and coworkers, or her husband and their baby were doing. Harris Wittels is the focal point, but this book tells stories of survivors as well.
I love this book. I love everything about it. I devoured every page. This is such a tremendous book that tells a harrowing tale, and I bet a ton of families would read this book and realize that, even if they think famous people's lives are so easy and great, they would change their tone. I may never know, or understand addiction. But this book shows its true colors. Read this book. It is wonderful.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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