Everything Is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong [Paperback]

Jason Mulgrew (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010

A memoir of startling insight, divine comedy, and irreversible, unconscionable stupidity

Fans of Jason Mulgrew's wildly popular blog know that everything really is wrong with him. The product of a raucous, not-just-semi-but-fully-dysfunctional Philadelphia family, Jason has seen it all—from Little League games of unspeakable horror to citywide parades ending in stab wounds; from hard-partying longshoremen fathers to feathered-hair, no-nonsense, kindhearted mothers; and from conscience-crippling Catholic dogmas to the equally confounding religion of women. With chapter titles like "My Bird: Inadequacy and Redemption" (no, he is not referring to a parakeet) and "On the Relationship Between Genetics and Hustling," Everything Is Wrong with Me proves that, as Jason puts it, "writing is a fantastical exercise in manic depression"—but he never fails to ensure that laughter is part of the routine.

With echoes of Jean Shepherd transplanted to Philly in the eighties and nineties, this book is a must-read for every person who looks back wistfully on his or her childhood and family and wonders, "What were we thinking?"

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blogger Mulgrew, an Irish Catholic son of working-class South Philly, grew up in the early 1980s. In his irreverent, self-deprecating, but frequently funny first book, based on his blog, he revisits his childhood and adolescence. Following in the footsteps of his storytelling father, who hung out with other guys in dive bars, the author encountered (and makes somewhat cursory use of) characters like the local kleptomaniac, a neighbor's teenaged uncle, who expanded on lessons in hustling previously laid down by a numbers-running grandfather, and the friend who launched further escapades in both entrepreneurship and juvenile pyromania. Mulgrew doesn't dwell sentimentally on his parents' rocky relationship, and in comparison to the seemingly endless run of adventures in ersatz jock-and-studhood, there's relatively little about his mother or his siblings. Instead, the book takes readers deep into a traditional, working-class social world where sports, Jackass-type pranks, and loyalty reigned. True to the lad-lit form and content, the narrative is often downright crude, with a Maxim-article tone. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Mulgrew’s loose collection of 1980s and ’90s childhood anecdotes and mining of familial dysfunction (designed to “throw my family under the bus so that I can buy a high-def TV and force them to cut off contact with me for the rest of my life”) clearly subscribes to the Sedaris school of memoir writing. The stories range from his youthful coming to terms with the inadequacy of his penis to an ode to late-night drunken hooker spotting, but the most memorable character turns out to be his hard-drinking, quasi-criminal father. Mostly, though, the book functions as a collection of chapter-length bar yarns—the kind that come out when only the hardiest of livers are left—with little attention paid to continuity or organization and a lot to nailing self-deprecatory zingers, which come in two flavors: booze (too much) and sex (not enough). Mulgrew, a popular blogger, is a tremendously entertaining and affable writer as long as you’re not expecting anything revelatory and don’t mind wallowing with him in his shamelessly, cheerfully puerile tendencies. --Ian Chipman

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061766658
• ISBN-13: 978-0061766657
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jason Mulgrew is a self-proclaimed "Internet Quasi-Celebrity" whose blog, Everything Is Wrong with Me: 30, Bipolar and Hungry, has received more than 200 million hits since its inception. Originally from Philadelphia, he now lives in New York City, where he works for a white-shoe law firm that tolerates his blue-collar ways.

Visit his blog at www.jasonmulgrew.com. For speaking engagements and/or sexual dances, he can be reached at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wiitty and Charismatic storytelling at it's finest., March 4, 2010

By 

Michael Conneely "iDocumentarian" (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything Is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong (Paperback)

I'll preface my review with the fact that I was skeptical about another blogger's first effort as a published novelist, especially a memoir. Having been a regular reader of JasonMulgrew.com and really enjoying it for years, I figured this purchase was like payback for all the hilarious stories that have been a welcome respite from life's day to day, mundane moments.

Ok, so now onto the book. Wow! I am happily surprised and very impressed with Jason's storytelling, subject matter, fantastic humor and the fact that this is not just a replication of his blog posts over the years. Although I do think that could have potentially worked.

I highly urge readers both familiar and especially unfamiliar with his writing style to give this book a well deserved read. Readers will really definitely enjoy his take on youth and many should appreciate the subject matter, which is highly reliant on a son's relationship with his father. As a fan of Jonathan Ames novels, a Confederacy of Dunces and anything that shows humorous worldviews, I welcome this writing effort which shows an underreported slice of Philly.

I believe this first effort will likely not be the last we hear from Jason. An update to this will likely occur as afterthoughts of this book occur to me. Also, I'd appreciate any recommendations of similar reads to this, which will satisfy me need for well written humor. Enjoy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious, fast read, September 8, 2010

By 

jeremy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Everything Is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong (Paperback)

I literally laughed out loud reading this book numerous times. Fun, quick read, and his warped sense of humor is incredibly witty. Check it out!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Get The Book, September 8, 2010

By 

Everythingiswrongwithmetoo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything Is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong (Paperback)

Like most of you, my bathroom doubles as my library. Besides deep thought and sometimes a little pain, I occasionally like to read entertaining "literature." This book makes the grade.

If you like The Dudsons, Jackass, Kids in the Hall, The Bed Intruder song, or long walks on the beach with another man, you will love this book.

It's a real quick read and you will be laughing out loud (which can benefit the primary function of the bathroom).

If you are interested in entering the mind of a quick wit with serious questions regarding his sexuality all based on an upbringing that is uniquely Philadelphian and equally dysfunctional, then this book is for you. (author realizes this is a run-on sentence)

I'd give this book "5 flushes." It's my version of the star scale and also is a good proxy for how long it will take you to finish this book.

This ain't for Reading Rainbow but should make its way to your bookshelf (or basket next to toilet near the wipes).

Overall Excellent