The Other Great Depression: How I'm overcoming, on a daily basis, at least a million addictions and disfunctions and finding a sAt the age of 44, renowned comedian Richard Lewis found himself on a gurney in the ER, toxic with alcohol, and hallucinating from excess cocaine use. The same neuroses and dysfunctions that had been the basis for his successful stage persona and inspired his best material had, it seemed, turned on him. How he got there, how he finally got on the road to recovery, and how he copes with being Richard Lewis sober on a daily basis are the subjects of this very funny, deeply honest, inspiring, but very untreacly book. USA Today called it "candid and inspirational.… A journey through Lewis' personal Inferno to eventual salvation." |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 5 | |
| 11 | |
Set em Up Joe 14 | 14 |
Hes Soooo Creative 15 | 15 |
He Only Hit Me Once and I Didnt Even Cry 18 | 18 |
The Virgin Richard 23 | 23 |
Jimi 30 | 30 |
An Open Letter of Apology to Practically All of the Women I Have Ever Gone Out With 167
| 167 |
Dont Tell Anyone But I Have This Really Gross Eating Disorder 170
| 170 |
Lustville USA 173 | 173 |
Find the Relationship in This Picture 176 | 176 |
Is This My Last Lay? 180 | 180 |
Marry Her Asshole 182 | 182 |
You Would Even Feel Bad About a Hooker 186 | 186 |
Joseph and Mary and You Gotta Be Kidding Me? 188 | 188 |
Group Therapy 34 | 34 |
Sunshine the Cat 39 | 39 |
King of Caterers Meet Your Prince of Pain 43 | 43 |
Club Isolation 46 | 46 |
You Got It 48 | 48 |
Santa Claus Has a Big Nose and Is from Philadelphia 51 | 51 |
Mrs Bruce and Mrs Keaton 55 | 55 |
It Was a Blast Before I Got Hooked 68 | 68 |
Good Night Everybody 70 | 70 |
Thanks Vin 76 | 76 |
Nina 79 | 79 |
PMS Diaries 85 | 85 |
Mr FirstClass Big Shot 90 | 90 |
Doing StandUp While Feeling Like Falling Down 94 | 94 |
Intervention 1 96 | 96 |
Fuck StandUp Comedy 99 | 99 |
Good Morning Mr President Im on My Way to Rehab 103 | 103 |
Before You Can Say the Word Rehab 107 | 107 |
There Are No Accidents Just Bad Drivers 118 | 118 |
The Show Must Go On 122 | 122 |
Encores 131 | 131 |
I Fell on Good Times 134 | 134 |
The Middle | 137 |
One Down a Zillion to Go 139 | 139 |
An Addicts State of Mind 143 | 143 |
Dates from Hell 146 | 146 |
Last Tango in Paris 151 | 151 |
Foreplay Man 154 | 154 |
My Wife My Daughter 157 | 157 |
A Lone Assassin 161 | 161 |
Phone Sex 164 | 164 |
Mirror Mirror on the Wall 192 | 192 |
Shes Sitting Upstairs 196 | 196 |
I Guess Its True 198 | 198 |
Another Beginning | 201 |
Right This Second 203 | 203 |
King Fear 205 | 205 |
Powerless 211 | 211 |
I Wish I Could Divorce Myself from Myself 212 | 212 |
2001A Space Odyssey? 215 | 215 |
I Have Inoperable Lung Cancer 217 | 217 |
Hey Buddy Can You Spare an Autograph? 219 | 219 |
Before I Visit Mom in the Rest Home 221 | 221 |
Vacations 227 | 227 |
I Think I Have to Go into a Nuthouse 229 | 229 |
Things I Still Feel Shitty About in Recovery 231 | 231 |
Little Triumphs 233 | 233 |
Actor Writer Comedian Drunk 236 | 236 |
To Be or Not to Be Happy? 240 | 240 |
Deathbed 243 | 243 |
He Was a Great Man 244 | 244 |
Reflections After Seeing Mom in Her Rest Home 248 | 248 |
Superbowl Sunday 2000 257 | 257 |
Im Waving a White Flag to Every Fuckin Thing fromNow on Because Almost Every Fuckin Thing Drives MeCrazy and I Cant Seem to Help Myself... | 260 |
I Forgot I Was Jewish 262 | 262 |
Im Alive and Thats Plenty 267 | 267 |
Jigsaw Man 269 | 269 |
Dont Take My Word for It 271 | 271 |
The Only Important Essay 277 | 277 |
Acknowledgments 281 | 281 |
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Common terms and phrases
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