Synopses & Reviews
"Whenever I hear the word 'spiritual,' I reach for my pistol."
So begins Ruining It for Everybody, the final volume of Jim Knipfel's trauma trilogy. Knipfel is mostly blind and has been diagnosed with mixed personality disorder and mild brain damage. He is also prone to recurring cysts that can be as big as eyeballs but that, fortunately, never land on his face and can be "removed quite nicely with a shoe knife and a handy bottle of Wild Turkey." These failures of his body and mind led him to contemplate what it means to be well, spiritual. "It doesn't matter if you're a Muslim extremist, a Buddhist, an Episcopalian, a Moonie, a Satanist, an Amway salesman, whatever your faith if you have a bad cold, it's going to change the way you look at the world. If you have cancer, or a broken arm, or AIDS, it will color your perspective even further. True 'spirituality' is reflected in how you deal with things in the face of unexpected and uncomfortable circumstances, regardless of whatever rule system you might swing about."
With brutal honesty and humor, Knipfel describes his transformation from being "a monster, a creep; wanting to do whatever I could to make the world a worse place" to experiencing regret, redemption, and hope although he would be the last person to admit it. Part Henry Miller, part Sid Vicious, part Jon Kabat-Zinn gone to the dark side, Knipfel has produced a scary and hilarious anti-spirituality spiritual manifesto.
Synopsis
In the final volume of the trauma trilogy, Knipfel part Henry Miller, part Sid Vicious, part Jon Kabat-Zinn gone to the dark side has produced a scary and hilarious anti-spirituality spiritual manifesto.
Synopsis
Praised by the
New York Times for his "wicked black humor" and by Thomas Pynchon for putting readers on "an extraordinary emotional ride," Jim Knipfel has written about the failings of his body (
Slackjaw) and the failings of his mind (
Quitting the Nairobi Trio).
Now, in his third and finest memoir, Knipfel looks unflinchingly at his soul, and comes to some surprising conclusions in this anti-spirituality spiritual manifesto.
About the Author
Jim Knipfel is the author of Slackjaw, as well as a columnist and staff writer for New York Press. He lives in Brooklyn.