Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs

Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs

The space between life and death is a moment.
But it will remain alive in me for hundreds of thousands of future moments.

One phone call. That's all it took to change Stephanie Wittels Wachs' life forever.

Her younger brother Harris, a star in the comedy world known for his work on shows like Parks and Recreation, had died of a heroin overdose. How do you make sense of such a tragic end to a life of so much hilarious brilliance?

In beautiful, unsentimental, and surprisingly funny prose, Stephanie Wittels Wachs alternates between her brother's struggle with addiction, which she learned about three days before her wedding, and the first year after his death, in all its emotional devastation. This compelling portrait of a comedic genius and a profound exploration of the love between siblings is A Year of Magical Thinking for a new generation of readers.

A heartbreaking but hopeful memoir of addiction, grief, and family, Everything is Horrible and Wonderful will make you laugh, cry, and wonder if that possum on the fence is really your brother's spirit animal.

Stephanie Wittels Wachs has written for Vox, Longform, Huffington Post, Fatherly, Mamamia, Babble, and Medium, among other publications. Mother, theatrical artist, lecturer, and voice actress are among her other notable roles. She received her bachelor's degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and her master's degree from the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance. Rec Room Arts, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to generating new work across disciplines, is co-founded by her. Her weekly podcast, Hands Off Parents, features her hilarious views on parenting (and life). Her family and she live in Houston, Texas.