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Agorafabulous!: Dispatches from My Bedroom

by Sara Benincasa

ISBN13: 9780062024411
ISBN10: 0062024418
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“Sara Benincasa is one of the funniest writers I know—and I know a disturbing number of them. She is also one of the most honest.”
—Sam Apple, author of American Parent and editor-in-chief of The Faster Times

“Sara is extremely funny and should have many books out so we can all read them and laugh.”
—Margaret Cho

Comedian, writer, blogger, radio and podcast host, and YouTube sensation, Sara Benincasa bravely and outrageously brings us “Dispatches from My Bedroom” with Agorafabulous! One of the funniest and most poignant books ever written about a mental illness, Agorafabulous! is a hilarious, raw, and unforgettable account of how a terrified young woman, literally trapped by her own imagination, evolved into a (relatively) high-functioning professional smartass. Down to earth and seriously funny, Benincasas no-holds-barred revelations offer readers the politically incorrect hilarity they heartily crave, yet is so often missing from your typical, weepy, and redemptive personal memoir.

Review:

"The lowest point for award-winning comedian and recovering agoraphobe Benincasa in her funny and unflinchingly honest account of her lifelong battle with panic attacks comes in college when she's too terrified to use her bathroom and is left to urinate in Le Creuset bowls. She starts having attacks in early childhood and by 16 is on a diet of antidepressant and antianxiety medications to deal with a long list of fears including driving and being a passenger, wet hair, and riding the subway and bus. When she gets to Emerson College, everything completely unravels. Rescued by her very understanding parents, she recuperates at home in New Jersey, seeing a psychiatrist and getting on the right drugs like Prozac and Xanax. The healing comes slowly, with baby steps like graduating from smoothies to solid food and being able to drive alone with the help of an inspirational mix tape. After surviving her first big test — moving 11 hours away to school in Asheville, N.C. — with only one small crackup, she decides she is ready to handle New York City, where 'most people are even crazier than I am.' Using humor to help her overcome the anxieties that once dominated her life, Benincasa discovers her gift for comedy and storytelling, and finds tranquility. Agent: Scott Mendel." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Synopsis:

“I subscribe to the notion that if you can laugh at the shittiest moments in your life,you can transcend them. And if other people can laugh at your awful shit as well, then I guess you can officially call yourself a comedian.”

In Boston, a college student fears leaving her own room—even to use the toilet. In Pennsylvania, a meek personal assistant finally confronts a perpetually enraged gay spiritual guru. In Texas, a rookie high school teacher deals with her male students unusually, er, hard personal problem. Sara Benincasa has been that terrified student, that embattled employee, that confused teacher—and so much more. Her hilarious memoir chronicles her attempts to forge a wonderfully weird adulthood in the midst of her lifelong struggle with agoraphobia, depression, and unruly hair.

Relatable, unpretentious, and unsentimental, Agorafabulous! celebrates eccentricity, resilience, and the power of humor to light up even the darkest corners of our lives. (There are also some sexy parts, but theyre really awkward. Like really, really awkward.)

About the Author

Sara Benincasa is an award-winning comedian, writer, blogger, and podcast host as well as the writer and star of the one-woman show Agorafabulous! She frequently contributes opinion pieces to CNN.com and was a citizen-journalist for the 2008 MTV News Choose or Lose Street Team. She hosts the Web series Gettin’ Wet with Sara Benincasa and the popular podcast Sex and Other Human Activities. She travels the country to speak about mental illness and women’s issues at universities and conferences. She lives in New York City.

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

: gaby317, February 16, 2012 (view all comments by gaby317)
Even if you don't usually read memoirs, you still might enjoy Agorafabulous! Sara Benincasa is hilarious while being quite frank about what it was like to deeply depressed and agoraphobic. There's no sugarcoating here but her frankness and sense of humor leaves one sympathizing and relating to what she went through. While it's hard to read about bowls of pee in Le Creuset bowls to avoid entering the bathroom, Benincasa makes you understand just how one might feel this way.

Benincasa takes us to different chapters of her life. The trip to Sicily with other high school kids tells us about her early panic attacks and her place in the social hierarchy:

'I was generally liked in my own grade (I cracked jokes in class and wrote funny editorials about the cafeteria for the school newspaper) but had few friends on the trip to Italy. And I was certainly not loved by Amber, who seemed particularly irritated by people who liked clowning around for laughs. She disliked them even more than she disliked people who made art on their own time, people who wore vintage clothing, people who listened to non-Top 40 music, and people who read books. And Amber really hated people who read books. I once heard her say in an English elective, "I have a boyfriend. I don't have time to waste on a fu#@ing book."'

The anecdotes throughout the week long high school trip kept me chuckling and wincing in equal amounts. When she weaves in how she told her best friend about her weak attempt to cut her wrists, I felt like I was there in the restaurant and wanted to cheer her up.

Agorafabulous! is a funny, frank, and engaging account of a young woman growing up and into herself.
ISBN-10: 0062024418 - Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: William Morrow (February 14, 2012), 272 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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Product Details

ISBN:: 9780062024411
Author:: Benincasa, Sara
Publisher:: William Morrow & Company
Subject:: Biography - General
Edition Description:: Hardcover
Publication Date:: 20120231
Binding:: HARDCOVER
Language:: English
Pages:: 272
Dimensions:: 8.25 x 5.5 x 0.93 in 22.8 oz

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Related Subjects

Arts and Entertainment » Humor » General
Biography » General
Featured Titles » Biography
Health and Self-Help » Psychology » Anxieties and Phobias
Health and Self-Help » Psychology » Mind and Consciousness
Health and Self-Help » Self-Help » General
Health and Self-Help » Self-Help » Memoirs

Agorafabulous!: Dispatches from My Bedroom New Hardcover Sara Benincasa

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$24.99 In Stock

Product details 272 pages William Morrow & Company - 2012-02-00 English 9780062024411 Reviews:

"Publishers Weekly Review" by Publishers Weekly, "The lowest point for award-winning comedian and recovering agoraphobe Benincasa in her funny and unflinchingly honest account of her lifelong battle with panic attacks comes in college when she's too terrified to use her bathroom and is left to urinate in Le Creuset bowls. She starts having attacks in early childhood and by 16 is on a diet of antidepressant and antianxiety medications to deal with a long list of fears including driving and being a passenger, wet hair, and riding the subway and bus. When she gets to Emerson College, everything completely unravels. Rescued by her very understanding parents, she recuperates at home in New Jersey, seeing a psychiatrist and getting on the right drugs like Prozac and Xanax. The healing comes slowly, with baby steps like graduating from smoothies to solid food and being able to drive alone with the help of an inspirational mix tape. After surviving her first big test — moving 11 hours away to school in Asheville, N.C. — with only one small crackup, she decides she is ready to handle New York City, where 'most people are even crazier than I am.' Using humor to help her overcome the anxieties that once dominated her life, Benincasa discovers her gift for comedy and storytelling, and finds tranquility. Agent: Scott Mendel." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Synopsis" by Harper Collins, “I subscribe to the notion that if you can laugh at the shittiest moments in your life,you can transcend them. And if other people can laugh at your awful shit as well, then I guess you can officially call yourself a comedian.”

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