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The Horrors

An A to Z of Funny Thoughts on Awful Things

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available


Comedian-author Charlie Demers, whose brain-bending brand of black humour will be familiar to followers of CBC Radio's The Debaters, offers his madcap perspective in a new collection of essays highlighting a wide range of topics under the heading of Bad Things. The Horrors is presented abecedarian-style, despoiling a beloved children's book tradition in order to explore personal hangups that range from the slightly awkward to the down-right terrible.
Beginning with 'A' for 'Adolescence,' Demers recalls his sexless teenage years spent in a Trotskyist sect, and 'B' for 'Bombing' offers a first-person account of the agonies of stand-up comedy gone wrong. 'E' for 'End of the World' explores the wacky world of Preppers (YouTube how-to-prepare-for-the-apocalypse experts), while 'F' for 'Fat' explains what life is like for those with both testicles and breasts. Other essays creep toward the pain side of the hilarity/agony line: 'D' for 'Depression' and 'M' for 'Motherlessness' traverse topics that more balanced minds might hesitate to make light of.
Fortunately, Demers does not let tact or sensibility deter him from pushing humour to its hysterical limit in order to examine our deepest fears. With artful insight, he never minimizes the very real pain inherent in some topics and uses comedy as a catharsis rather than a numbing agent. Dark, smart and funny, in the sunny world of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Project, The Horrors will be a shadow... or at least a shadow puppet.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 13, 2016
      Author and stand-up comedian Demers (Vancouver Special) offers insight, both humorous and erudite, on topics such as "D for Depression," "F for Fat," "M for Motherlessness," and "U for Union-Busting" in 26 concise essays. Characterized by Demers's predominantly sarcastic tone, the essays strike a balance between the comic and the absurd, the political and the personal. Demers writes about his life and that of his familyâincluding his mother dying from leukemia and his father coming out to his family as gayâwith clarity, transparency and sensitivity. It is clear that politics have, from a young age, charted the course of Demers's character, and his socialist views are inextricable from his personality; many of the essays discuss them either intrinsically or as a side dish. In the second chapter, "B for Bombing," the author writes: "Success in comedy is just as unambiguous as failure." This is the ethos by which Demers's work succeedsâwhether he's considering failure or success, his humor reminds the audience that life moves forward. Agent: John Pearce, Westwood Creative Artists.

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  • English

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