Without intention or premeditation, I've spent the last little while engaged in a common marketing practice known as "It Doesn't Matter What It Is. Just Shut Up and Buy It." (See: fast food hamburgers) But as a few of you pointed out in the comments section in the previous post, perhaps knowing what the eff Rage Against The Meshugenah is about would stimulate more enthusiastic pre-sales.

Thus, upon written permission from my editor, the following is the marketing text currently being used to sell the book (including a very brief excerpt, in ital):

RAGE AGAINST THE MESHUGENAH: Why It Takes Balls To Go Nuts
by Danny Evans

In his early thirties, Danny Evans had it all—a hot wife, a new baby, and a steady advertising job. Then, in the span of one week, a series of inauspicious events plunged Evans into a crushing depression. At turns poignant and uproarious, RAGE AGAINST THE MESHUGENAH vividly traces Evans’ journey through the minefield of mental illness from a modern man’s point of view.

"Heartbreaking and hilarious...[Danny Evans'] debut memoir is not to be missed."
—New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster

The stigma surrounding depression prevents many men from discussing it, but Evans holds nothing back. Through his confrontations with sexual side effects, his self-medication with beer and porn, and even his private therapy sessions, Evans boldly details his odyssey to get back to being himself.


"Funny, insightful and incredibly fresh."
—Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, author of Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay

MESHUGENAH |meh-shuh-geh-nuh|
adjective
1 mad; crazy: Rachel went completely meshugenah last night and ate a whole jar of gefilte fish – including that nasty gelatinous goo!
2 mentally deranged; demented; insane: Keep it down, you kids! You’re driving me meshugenah!

"A sort of self-help book on crack, for the modern man."
—Rebecca Woolf, author of Rockabye

"My first therapist's name was Neil Diamond. When he would stop to drink some water or make a note on his legal pad (“Patient says Rorschach blot number eight reminds him of a frog who dreamed of being a king, and then became one. Odd.”), I passed the time by devising ways to work lyrics from songs by Neil Diamond (the real Neil, not the therapist) into our “therapeutic” dialog. I never summoned the balls to actually say it, but I fantasized about shaking his hand after one of our sessions and saying, “Thanks, Doc. Good times never seemed so good."

In his revealing, funny, and no-holds-barred memoir, Danny Evans takes us on his odyssey from having it all one moment and plunging into a crushing depression the next. He confronts his innermost demons, and the hidden truths about his family in a raw and honest account. Nothing is off-limits on his quest—not even his analysis of the embarrassing and inconvenient sexual side effects of his get-well medication. It’s enough to drive a man insane. But Danny learns the hard way that he may just have to go a little crazy in order to find his way back home.

“Danny Evans is the rare breed of writer who can exhibit both razor-sharp wit and a heart of gold…makes me suspect he is, indeed, the love child of Dave Barry and Woody Allen.”
—Martha Kimes, author of Ivy Briefs

Comments

Cool. Will make sure to get the book. How about an interview for my podcast/radio show? It's web and live in south east US -
Cheers,
Anita

Oh, yes. First to comment :) even tough it wasn't a real comment....

Can I get a signed copy?

So I can expect this book to be "heartbreaking and hilarious", right?

Fantastic! Can't wait to read it, man.

when is it due out???

Like the quotes from other writers (whatever the correct writer-lingo term is), love the excerpt...who wrote the rest of it? It just doesn't seem up to par with the rest of it. I think depression, porn, and beer are mentioned redundantly between the paragraph at the top and the one at the bottom.

There's a lot of eye catching words in all that - balls, nuts, porn, sexual side effects, Neil Diamond ...

August 4, 2009 according to Amazon. How can we wait that long?

Just PDF it and post it on the site. :)

(Long time lurker, first time commenter)

Well done! I'm going to buy a copy regardless, but there seems to be a typo in the excerpt ("..and hen became one"). Might just be a copy/paste issue.

Also, what's with having only women endorse your book?

(This is meant as a joke, although I often fail miserably at being funny...or handsome for that matter)

Can't wait to get a copy.

What?! You wrote a book?

So! Excited! I want a countdown widget for my blog.

Not to jump the gun or anything but what will book #2 be about?

Remember those times you said to me things about That Thing? Well now I get it and I'm sitting here grinning like a dumbass because...well...you know.

cooooooffffeeeeeeeeeee

I promise not to tell mom and dad about that "love child" thing.

Just how proud are you? Very very very, I hope. I'm buying this book.

The Book Is On My List.

Danny, this is amazing. The publicity write-up makes it more real than ever. Great work! I look forward to reading it.

de-lurking and totally buying for christmas. :)

"the love child of Dave Barry and Woody Allen.”

C'mon - you aren't _that_ ugly.

And speaking as a therapist without a catchy name - if I were Neil Diamond, I would have loved the lyrics-as-conversation. Missed opportunity.

Whoa, high praise indeed. You'd better hope this book is as good as I know it is, or you'll have a lot to answer for someday.

See, now I REALLY want to buy it.

Important subject, and it's important that more males come out with their experiences. There's a stigma attached to all depression, but it hits males hardest. Bravo for doing it, Danny.

It's always triggered by "a series of inauspicious events", isn't it?

Pat yourself on the back...go ahead, I'll wait...you deserve it!

it's officially on my amazon wish list. now the countdown begins! :D

I'm totally buying it. I'm going to buy it for my husband, and maybe his best friend.. and I'm going to steal it and read it too.. or maybe I'll just buy three!!

Thank you. I was hoping for a summary like this so I can promote it for you.

*sniff sniff*

Our little boy is all grown up now.

If I started quoting lyrics to my psychologist, she'd laugh with me, she and I are birds of a feather, except shes a greenie and I'm a meanie. LOL

I may have to get my hands on this book when I get another job.

First time poster. Love your blog and don't think I can wait til AUGUST for the book! I was buying it regardless, just based on the humor of your blog entries, but now after reading the description...whoa! I'm living this with my husband right now...only it doesn't seem so funny. You give me hope that maybe there can be a happy ending for us too!

I'm gonna buy the book for ME...but I might let hubby read it if he's really good!

I am looking forward to reading it. I have read your blog for a little while and I love your writing.

Dude! Way to go! Very nice work. I want a signed copy, so I can sell it on Ebay one day and retire.

The tagline made me laugh - Why it takes balls to go nuts. Genius.

Congrats on all your hard work. I know this is your first step toward literary greatness! Looking forward to your sitcom on NBC, or your debut as Jimmy-Kimmel-esque commentator for the Anaheim Ducks.

Definitely plan to order a book(s) - just can't persuade anyone to give it to me for a Holiday gift as it won't be "in" until much later - but my Bday will coincide nicely! Is there anyway that we (read "I") can send it to/through you so that it will be autographed??? What a BONUS to offer to all of your LOYAL readers . . . Hmmm, why not mention that option on a future post . . . I bet that you will really get the orders rolling in!!! Then your true readers will always be able to say "See, I knew Danny 'dadgonemad' Evans back when, BEFORE he was the next great writer of our times . . .

"...makes me suspect he is, indeed, the love child of Dave Barry and Woody Allen.”

No higher praise! Those of us who read your blog were buying anyway, but those quotes would have sold me had I never even heard of you!

I like that they reference your addiction to beer and porn twice.

xo

b.

What's Up my b-ball brotha? Heard you had a book coming out. Congrats and well done. We need to catch up one of these days. Hope you, Sha-rone and the kids are all doing well.

Can't wait for this Danny!

Pre-ordered at Amazon just now - at ten bucks it's a little under-priced IMHO, but I will take it as a gift!

Regards,
J

Beer and porn? Sold.

I'm proud to say I ordered my copy the first (or was it the second?) day it went on pre-sale on Amazon. After reading the excerpt, I'm even more glad that I did so. I have to agree though, parts of it (the excerpt)seem to be kind of redundant (beer, porn mentioned twice just a few paragraphs away from each other) so here's hoping that it will be re-written. If not..fuck it, I bought it anyway so who the hell cares?

Wow, how it must feel to read an except about your book. Did you write that or did someone else? How surreal.....

All the way from Kenya, I want a copy, too. Coming from a family with macho males who in truly african fashion dismiss depression as a foreign condition unheard of even when they suffer, hope your book might offer me some ammo to help them. Checking in Amazon now!

Hey, is it my web-browser or something ?
Where did the lastest post go ?
Or did I dream it ...

MESHUGENAH is only Bossy's favorite word. It's bound to be a huge bestseller, and Bossy will be in the front of the line for an autograph.

Was going to order it anyway, but now I really can't wait!

Hot wife and a new baby?! lol You had it all.

This actually sounds like a good read.

Book evolution reading - done

Pre-purchase - done.

Months to wait to the actual book? Pissing me off. But priceless.