Lose Well: False Starts, Beautiful Disasters, Public Humiliations, and Other Secrets to Success

by Chris Gethard

Overview

A laugh-out-loud, kick-in-the-pants self-help narrative for anyone who ever felt like they didn’t fit in or couldn’t catch a break—comedian and cult hero Chris Gethard shows us how to get over our fear of failure and start living life on our own terms.

Let’s face it: we all want a seat at the cool table, a great job, and loads of money. But most of us won’t be able to achieve this widely accepted, black-or-white, definition of winning, which makes us feel like failures, that we’re destined to a life of loserdom. That’s the conventional wisdom. It’s also crap, according to comedian and cult hero Chris Gethard, who knows a thing of two about losing. Failing is an art form, he argues; in fact, it’s the only the way we’re ever going to discover who we are, what we really want, and how to live the kind of life we only dreamed about.

Setting flame to vision boards and tossing out the "seven simple steps" to achieving anything, the host of the eponymous Trutv talk show and the wildly popular podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People illustrates his personal and professional manifesto with hilarious and ultimately empowering stories about his own set-backs, missteps, and public failures, from the cancellation of his Comedy Central sitcom after seven episodes to rediscovering his comedic voice and life’s purpose on a public access channel.

With his trademark wit and inspiring storytelling—a cross between David Sedaris and Jenny Lawson—Gethard teaches us how to power through our own hero’s journey, whether we’re a fifteen-year-old starting a punk band or a fifty-year-old mother of three launching an Etsy page. In the process, he shows us how to fail with grace, laugh on the way down, and as we dust ourselves off, how to transform inevitable failures into endless opportunities. It might get a little messy, but that’s exactly the point. Because the first step in living on your own terms is learning how to lose well, and more often than not, the revolutionary act of failing lets us witness firsthand what awaits us on the other side.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062691439
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/21/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	241
Sales rank:	276,971
File size:	733 KB

About the Author

CHRIS GETHARD is a comedian and creator of The Chris Gethard Show and host of the popular weekly podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. His Judd Apatow-produced one-man show, Career Suicide, premiered on HBO and was nominated for the Lucille Lortel award for its off-Broadway run. He lives in Queens, New York.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Introduction 1

Lose Well 19

You Are the Chaos 33

But No One I Know Does This Stuff 41

Bye Bye Birdie 47

Why This? Why Here? Why Now? 59

Pfizer Winter 63

When Should I Quit? 75

The Falcon 77

Stop Apologizing 87

Punk 97

Never Let Them See the Scales 109

No Need for Rock Bottom 115

"It's Too Late" 119

Weird N.J. 125

"No One Will Get It" 141

Dusty Bunter: True Scum 147

Bitterness Is the Enemy 159

Greggulation 161

Public Access 169

Red Light Rules 197

The Unusual Things 207

Funny Plus 209

Always Be Terrified 219

Pushing Through Blocks 225

The Current State of Things 229

Acknowledgments 241

Editorial Reviews

10/15/2018
Comedian Gethard (A Bad Idea I’m About to Do) provides uproarious and uplifting advice for those who could stand to have a little more faith in themselves. He draws his wisdom from his experiences growing up as a small, awkward kid in a working class part of northern New Jersey, as well as the many years he spent trying to break through as an actor and comedian. “This is not a book that will teach you how to hit a home run,” he writes. “It shows you instead how to become world class at striking out.” The message is that people should work hard to find their true voices and persist in putting themselves out there. In Gethard’s experience, the act of pushing oneself to the point of failure—and examining what went wrong to improve the next attempt—is the only way to be prepared to take advantage of the luck that’s needed for any success. “It is better to fail on your own terms then someone else’s,” he writes, “so define those terms for yourself.” Gethard’s writing style is effortless and enjoyable, and his beliefs are compassionate and encouraging. Fans of his irreverent comedy will be thrilled to dive deeper into his life and work, and anyone else stuck in a rut will find permission to go out and try—and fail—as often and as well as possible. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

If anyone can get you to give your dreams an honest shot, it’s Chris Gethard, the king of somehow turning defeats into victories.” — JUDD APATOW, comedian, writer, and director

“This is funny, sure, but it’s very much more. Chris speaks inspirational life truths to the outsider in all of us. A pithy road map of the antiestablishment path by which one can succeed in comedy and life. Gethard gets it.” — NICK OFFERMAN, actor, comedian, and author of the New York Times bestselling Paddle Your Own Canoe

“I was on the altar of Chris Gethard’s wedding, when he was waiting a really long time for his bride to show up. Like, so long. I figured, based on his past life experiences, that it wasn’t going to end well. Anyway, that’s what this book is like.” — MIKE BIRBIGLIA, comedian, actor, and author of the New York Times bestselling Sleepwalk with Me—and Other Painfully True Stories

“…Gethard’s writing style is effortless and enjoyable, and his beliefs are compassionate and encouraging. Fans will be thrilled to dive deeper into his life and work, and anyone else stuck in a rut will find permission to go out and try—and fail—as often and as well as possible.” — Publishers Weekly

“Chris Gethard’s Lose Well will change the way you think about failure. It’s funny, heartfelt, and full of advice that every creative person needs to hear.” — Hello Giggles

“…the sort of vulnerable, honest, and spoken-from-experience material that’s earned him such a strong online following… and qualifies him to write a book like Lose Well.“ — A/V Club

From the Publisher

…the sort of vulnerable, honest, and spoken-from-experience material that’s earned him such a strong online following… and qualifies him to write a book like Lose Well.“

A/V Club

This is funny, sure, but it’s very much more. Chris speaks inspirational life truths to the outsider in all of us. A pithy road map of the antiestablishment path by which one can succeed in comedy and life. Gethard gets it.

NICK OFFERMAN

I was on the altar of Chris Gethard’s wedding, when he was waiting a really long time for his bride to show up. Like, so long. I figured, based on his past life experiences, that it wasn’t going to end well. Anyway, that’s what this book is like.

MIKE BIRBIGLIA

Chris Gethard’s Lose Well will change the way you think about failure. It’s funny, heartfelt, and full of advice that every creative person needs to hear.

Hello Giggles

If anyone can get you to give your dreams an honest shot, it’s Chris Gethard, the king of somehow turning defeats into victories.

JUDD APATOW