Lose Well - by Chris Gethard (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

From the host of "Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People" podcast and creator of The Chris Gethard Show, a self-help narrative for anyone who ever felt like they didn't fit in or couldn't catch a break.

Your parents roll their eyes. Your teachers barely care. Your boss hates all your ideas. Do even your own kids make you feel like you're silly for wanting to pursue your dreams? Sometimes life convinces you that you're born to strike out, bound to lose.

Well, comedian Chris Gethard is here to tell you that they're probably right--odds are that failure is imminent. And that's great. In fact, striking out hard and often might just be the key to a healthier, happier, more successful life that ends with you living free of regret. Failure is an art form, and the only way to discover who you are, what's most important to you, and how to live and work on your own terms is to learn how to lose well.

Setting flame to vision boards and tossing out the "seven simple steps" to achieving anything, Gethard--host of the wildly popular podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People podcast and creator of The Chris Gethard Show--illustrates his personal and professional manifesto with hilarious and ultimately empowering tales about his own missteps, misadventures, and public failures, from the cancellation of his Comedy Central sitcom after ten episodes to rediscovering his comedic voice and life's purpose on a public access channel.

With his trademark wit and inspiring storytelling, 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 turn our inevitable failures into endless opportunities.

Review Quotes

"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