Marvin and Stuart get to sleep over at Nick Tuffle's house for Nick's birthday. They set out sleeping bags in the Tuffles' backyard. Stuart and Nick fall right to sleep, but Marvin tosses and turns. Then he hears a noise, and something glowing zooms over his head. Is it "really "a flying birthday cake? Or something else? The next day, a very strange new kid shows up at school. . . .

"Public figures as you rarely if ever hear them: strikingly personal, surprisingly open, and profoundly emotional." — Entertainment Weekly "I’m British, so I’m medically dead inside, but even I can’t help but open up whenever I talk to Marc. He uses his honestly like a scalpel, cutting himself open in front of anyone he’s talking to, and in doing so, invites you to do the same." —John Oliver From the beloved and wildly popular podcast WTF with Marc Maron comes a book of intimate, hilarious and life changing conversations with some of the funniest, and most important people in the world like you’ve never heard them before. Waiting for the Punch features the stories and thoughts of such luminaries as Amy Schumer, Mel Brooks, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Sir Ian McKellen, Lorne Michels, Judd Apatow, Lena Dunham, Jimmy Fallon, RuPaul, Louis CK, David Sedaris, Bruce Springsteen, and President Obama. This book is not simply a collection of these interviews, but instead something more wondrous: a running narrative of the world’s most recognizable names working through the problems, doubts, joys, triumphs, and failures we all experience. With each chapter covering a different topic: parenting, childhood, relationships, sexuality, success, failures and others, Punch becomes a sort of everyman’s guide to life. Barack Obama candidly discusses the challenges of the presidency, and the bittersweet moments of seeing your children grow up. Amy Schumer recounts the pain of her parents’ divorce. Molly Shannon uproariously remembers the time she and her best friend hopped a plane from Ohio to New York City when they were twelve on a dare. Amy Poehler dishes on why just because you become a parent doesn’t mean you have to like anybody else’s kids but your own. Bruce Springsteen expounds on the dual nature of desperation to both motivate and devastate. Full of stories that are at once laugh-out loud funny, heartbreakingly honest, joyous, tragic and powerful, Waiting for the Punch is a book to be read from cover to cover, but it is also one to return to again and again.

Tired of trying to be confident, positive, and spiritually centered? Now the real you can shine through! You can be happy, productive, and well adjusted while remaining as neurotic as ever. That's the premise of The Happy Neurotic: How Fear and Angst Can Lead To Happiness And Success! by counselor and stand-up comic David Granirer. Granirer states, "Many self-help books promise us wealth, perfect health, and even to reverse the aging process if only we love ourselves, say positive affirmations, and eliminate all negativity. But most of us aren't getting any richer, healthier or younger, and we're starting to feel like idiots as we go around chanting, 'I am a perfect being of love and light' while cutting people off in traffic. Negative emotions are not only impossible to eradicate, they are also keys to our happiness and success." Instead of wasting time and money on futile attempts to become totally confident and relentlessly positive, Granirer's readers learn how to achieve the common sense and attainable reality of the Happy Neurotic - someone who uses negative emotions to create happiness and success and has a sense of humor about it all. The book even includes a special chapter teaching readers how to use humor as a powerful tool for accepting and even celebrating their dysfunctions. According to Granirer, "Everyone is dysfunctional to some degree. This book helps readers make their dysfunctions work for them." This funny and highly irreverent book also challenges many popular New Age teachings. Readers learn why they shouldn't trust the universe, why programming themselves for success often doesn't work, and about negative, fear-driven people who live charmed lives. Counsellor and stand-up comic David Granirer's work teaching comedy to people with mental illness as a way of building confidence and fighting public stigma has been featured by media across North America. He also helps hundreds of organizations use humor to cope with stress and adversity. Granirer lives in Vancouver, Canada. Book jacket.

Hilarious Holiday Humor features sidesplitting jokes and zany cartoons about all our major holidays, including Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Each chapter begins with a fascinating story about where the holiday comes from, making this book a fun way of understanding our modern-day celebrations.