Funny How Life Works

Funny How Life Works is a behind-the-scenes look at the life and career of comedian Michael Jr. Infused with the same laugh-out-loud humor and practical wisdom that define his stand-up acts, Michael shares a collection of stories meant to inspire readers to embrace their purpose--their "punchline."

A fun, whimisical primer to the New Thought movement. THE MYTH: Success makes you happy. THE FACT: Happiness makes you successful. It's not about who you know, or even what you know. It's about how good you feel, which, luckily for you, is entirely within your own power. Discover how to feel good, replace patterns of fear and failure with love and kindness, and create the life of abundance you've always dreamt of: • Doing work you love • Surrounded by people you love • And with the love of your life 'In a Nutshell' features throughout provide useful reminders of the key valuable lessons in each chapter. How Life Works is illustrated with 90 of Andrew's trademark sketches. "My cartoons illustrate the message", says Andrew. "Cartoons also remind us not to take life too seriously."

E. R. Frank’s seminal first novel weaves together the stories of eleven teenagers in one city over seven years in this groundbreaking and “impressive debut” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Why does Gingerbread always have a smile on his face? “Because life is funny,” he tells Keisha. But for her—and almost everyone else in her Brooklyn neighborhood—there doesn’t seem to be much to laugh about. China, Ebony, and Grace are best friends, but Grace’s mother isn’t crazy about her being friends with two girls who aren’t white, and each cut Ebony makes on her wrist seems to drive them even further apart. Just across the schoolyard there’s Eric who has to raise his younger brother Mickey, even though no one expects him to amount to anything. Meanwhile, Sonia’s Muslim parents expect everything of her, and it may be more than she is able to give after she suffers a shattering loss. When Drew brings his father’s Jaguar into Sam’s family’s auto body shop across town they seem to be from opposite sides of the tracks, but Drew’s the one hiding a dark family secret. And he’s not the only one.

Funny How Life Works is a behind-the-scenes look at the life and career of comedian Michael Jr. Infused with the same laugh-out-loud humor and practical wisdom that define his stand-up acts, Michael shares a collection of stories meant to inspire readers to embrace their purpose--their “punchline.” “Michael’s stories, accumulated throughout his own unusual journey, reveal important truths you and I can absorb and apply to make our lives better, and to improve the lives of everyone around us. And of course, you’ll find yourself laughing out loud as you read.” --John Maxwell

FUNNY: THE BOOK - EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT COMEDY

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away.

I was at my wit's end. I'd had enough of this job, this life, and my relationship had broken up. Should I eat chocolate, or go to India, or fall in love? Then I had a revelation: Why not do all three, in that order? And so it was that I embarked on a journey that was segmented into three parts and was then made into a major motion picture. Later, I woke up on an airplane with a hole in my face and a really bad hangover. I was ushered brusquely off the plane by my parents who took me to a rehab where I tested positive for coke, classic coke, special k (the drug), Special K (the cereal), mushrooms, pepperoni, and Restless Leg Syndrome. It was there that I first began painting with my feet. But rewind...the year was 1914. I was just a young German soldier serving in the trenches while simultaneously trying to destroy an evil ring with some help from an elf, a troll, and a giant sorcerer, all while cooking every recipe out of a Julia Child cookbook. What I'm trying to say is that there was a secret code hidden in a painting and I was looking for it with this girl who had a tattoo of a dragon! Let me clarify, it was the 1930s and a bunch of us were migrating out of Oklahoma, and I was this teenage wizard/CIA operative, okay? And, um then I floated off into the meta-verse as a ball of invisible energy that had no outer edge... Ugh, okay. None of this is true. I'm just kind of a normal guy from New Jersey who moved to New York, got into comedy, wrote this book about trying to write this book, and then moved to Alaska, became the mayor of a small town, spent $30,000 on underwear, and now I'm going to rule the world!!!

A runaway bestseller in Japan, now available in English for the first time, Life Works Itself Out is an unforgettable collection of adorable cat photos and sage life advice that will appeal to fans of Texts from Mittens, I Could Pee on This, and Grumpy Cat. Humans could learn a thing or two from cats—and Life Works Itself Out is here to relay all of kittendom’s accumulated wisdom to mankind, one loveable photo and wise aphorism at a time. A mega-bestseller in Japan (where it has sold more than 700,000 copies), this book is filled with inspirational quotes and entertaining four-color photographs of cats that range from the heartwarming to the humorous. Whether you’re feeling down and looking for a lift, or you need some lighthearted life advice, who better to turn to than man’s TRUE best friend—the trusty feline. The purr-fect pick-me-up or gift book, Life Works Itself Out will have cat lovers pawing through its pages over and over again.

This star-studded tribute to the kings and queens of comedy draws together such legendary names as Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and many more. Granted extraordinary access, photographer Matt Hoyle has captured his subjects in portraits that are works of art in themselves—by turns zany and deadpan, laugh-out-loud and contemplative. Accompanying them are first-person reflections from each of the comedians on life and laughter that always cut straight to the heart of comedy: it's funny because it's true. Page after sidesplitting page in Comic Genius offers prose as engaging as each portrait is memorable. Here, in one handsome package, is the gift of laughter itself. Comic Genius is proud to support Save The Children.