A relentlessly honest coming of death story, this psychological memoir of comedian Glenn Rockowitz's ongoing struggle with cancer offers a vivid glimpse into the landscape of a mind when it is faced with the constant threat of death. The story takes us from Glenn's unexpected diagnosis of 'three months at best' just days before the birth of his only child, to his miraculous remission and the ironic death of his father. It is a journey that is by turns heartbreaking, painfully funny, misanthropic, loving and ultimately heroic. Rodeo In Joliet tramples the Hallmark cliches and platitudes of traditional cancer survival stories and presents in their place an experience that leaves the reader in awe and grateful for his or her every breath.
Glenn Rockowitz (b. May 27, 1970, Plainview, New York), is an American writer, filmmaker and comedian. A graduate of Chicago's famed Second City, Rockowitz went on to write and perform comedy for many years throughout the United States. In 1995, he founded a nonprofit AIDS and cancer charity in NYC, known as The Best Medicine Group -- an organization that brought hundreds of live comedy shows into the homes of terminally-ill patients throughout the metropolitan New York area.
Rodeo in Joliet, a memoir of his battle with a very aggressive late-stage cancer, was released nationally on April 11, 2009. By early 2010, the book became a word-of-mouth bestseller. He has recently appeared on NPR, NBC and a variety of syndicated radio programs.
