An Unexpected Twist (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Andy Borowitz (Author)

Book Description

Andy Borowitz almost died, but lived to tell this stranger-than-fiction tale. In his first-ever work of autobiography, the comedian and New York Times bestselling author tells how a freakish medical condition descended upon him one October afternoon and led him to the brink of death – in a New York hospital “consistently rated one of the ten best in the country.” What happens when “one of the funniest people in America” (CBS News Sunday Morning) comes face to face with his own mortality? An Unexpected Twist is in equal parts harrowing and hilarious – and a moving affirmation of what it means to be alive.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If brevity is the soul of wit, then be thankful that doctors made short work of Andy Borowitz's life-threatening intestinal ailment. Known for his award-winning humor writing, Borowitz here recounts the literally twisted story of his revolting colon and the successive surgeries required to fix it. Rife with deadpan observations and quirky characterizations of the medical staff that attended him, An Unexpected Twist offers humor on a number of levels, from breezy ruminations on life, death, and love to the simply scatological. (Let it be said that Borowitz's writing is no less charismatic for embracing some pretty obvious opportunities for laughs.) In the end, it seems, his brush with death from the inside out proved an ambiguous blessing: the author suffered the accompanying discomfort, pain, and fear; readers reap the rewards of his levity aplenty. --Jason Kirk

Review

Best Books of the Year -- Amazon.com

Amazon.com's Best Kindle Single of 2012

"Andy Borowitz is the funniest human on Twitter, and that's not mean praise. His first original e-book -- the current best-selling Single -- is a seriocomic memoir called "An Unexpected Twist" (99 cents), about a blockage in his colon that nearly killed him. This funny book has a sneaky emotional gravity. As the time of his illness he'd been married only a few months, and his small book becomes a rather large love story."

-- Dwight Garner, The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 55 KB
• Print Length: 18 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007A4V33M
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,039 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Humor
  • #31 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor
  • #67 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 149 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Andy is funny even when he's serious February 17, 2012

By Cindy Lovell

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Any time a doctor says, "I'm going to be extra careful this time" you know you've got problems. Andy Borowitz with problems? Who knew? Andy takes on a very serious issue - and it's purely autobiographical - and somehow keeps us laughing throughout. I think what surprised me the most was the suspense I felt as I read this (kind of like each time I read "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" by Jim Bishop, and I hear myself muttering under my breath, "Don't go to Ford's tonight!"). Yes, Andy wrote it, so I sort of knew the ending, but I didn't know the message until I got to the end. Andy Borowitz is a brilliant writer and funny guy extraordinaire, but like our beloved Mark Twain, he is also acutely aware of human nature and the human condition. I also enjoyed getting to "meet" Olivia, Andy's wife (fun coincidence that has nothing to do with Andy's book: Mark Twain's wife was also named Olivia). Olivia is a keeper. So is this book. Thanks, Andy!

90 of 94 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Something special February 27, 2012

By Bill Clark

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I surprised myself when reading this short piece on my Kindle, in my hotel room, alone, during a business trip. I laughed out loud several times, and at one point, found myself laughing UNCONTROLLABLY. That is, laughing in the way one does when talking with friends and someone says something that truly "strikes your funnybone"...and you just can't stop laughing for several minutes. Not a common experience, for me at least, and one I don't think I have **ever** had before while simply reading, all alone.

Partly it's Andy, of course, who is one of the funniest guys I've read, but it's also the very personal, very believable -- and somehow familiar -- experience he's recounting. Maybe you need to at least have had a colonoscopy at some point to fully appreciate it, but I call this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From an RN's perspective February 18, 2012

By R. Grayson

Format:Kindle Edition

Mr. Borowitz has encapsulated the patient experience in our healthcare system accurately, with whimsy and in such generous detail as to be excellent pre-op reading for the patient-to-be, either imminent or at any time in the indeterminate future ... in other words, good information for everyone living with potential exposure to the American Health Care System. Andy conjures up the do's, don'ts, agonies, & ecstasies of life under the knife. Highly recommended in my perspective as an RN with lots of pre-op & post-op care experience.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and true! April 14, 2012

By Victoria Campbell

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I absolutely loved this book. I went through a very similar experience and I never thought such a harrowing, near-death experience could be so funny! Andy Borowitz hit it out of the park with this one. I'm recommending it to everyone!An Unexpected Twist (Kindle Single)

Not to be missed!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unexpected Story June 2, 2012

By Cat Lover Lennie

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can only add my 5 stars to the pile! I am a retired nurse...I don't know if that made it funnier to me than to others, but I'm glad I was at home when I read this! I was braying like a mule, snorting like a pig and just plain laughing out loud. How the author could make a comedy out of circumstances that should have been anything but funny is a testament to his comedic talent. I hope he has written other stuff!

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Schadenfreude February 17, 2012

By D. Hamilton

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I heard an audio recording of this story nearly nine months ago. I instantly took a liking to Andy's misery, which doesn't say much about me as a person, but it certainly says a lot of good things about the Borowitz edge when it comes to telling a compelling story. I was so engaged after hearing this story that I immediately did two things: I put a link to the audio on my blog (Debutopia) and I prayed fervently for my own medical catastrophe (hey, sometimes I run out of material for my blog, o.k.?). You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll buy some Pepto-Bismol.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars At $0.99, this is a steal. July 22, 2012

By T. A. Daniel TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

It's a pretty brief read, and priced at $0.99 cents, this Kindle Single feels like a steal. AN UNEXPECTED TWIST is a poignant look at someone whose idea of a comfortable life is brought to a halt because of health problems. It's filled with love, and the interactions/thoughts between the author and his wife are beautiful. The ride is a scary one, but it's nice to have a guide as fun as Borowitz.

After reading AN UNEXPECTED TWIST, I found myself frequently comparing it to the Will Reiser penned 50/50. Both stories are similar (but distinctive in their own right): both are humorous accounts of the author dying. Sometimes we have to make ourselves laugh so that we don't cry -- that's what Andy Borowitz goes through here. Simultaneously hilarious and horrifying, AN UNEXPECTED TWIST is able to bring its readers in to reflect upon their own lives along with the author.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!! June 18, 2012

By Maggiemai

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had no idea what to expect when I started to read this story. I chuckled at the first paragraph... I was hooked by the end of the 2nd page! It only takes about 30 minutes to read and I couldn't put it down. It's actually about a serious subject, but it's one of the funniest stories I've ever read! I work in a hospital and maybe that's why it just made me laugh out loud all the way through it. Loved this story though and I do highly recommend it. Can't believe I got it for 99 cents!! (For Adults Only)

More About the Author

Andy Borowitz is a New York Times bestselling author and comedian who created the satirical column The Borowitz Report, which was acquired by The New Yorker in 2012 and has millions of readers around the world. He is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club's humor award, a two-time finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and a two-time host of the National Book Awards. He has been called a "Swiftian satirist" (The Wall Street Journal), "America's satire king" (The Daily Beast), "the funniest human on Twitter" (The New York Times) and "one of the funniest people in America" (CBS News Sunday Morning). His Kindle Single, "An Unexpected Twist," was a number one bestseller and Amazon's Best Kindle Single of 2012.