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Patrick Wensink

Everything Was Great Until It Sucked: One Man's Journey from Fake IDs and BBQ Sauce Sales to Stay-at-Home-Dad and Bestselling Author Paperback – October 21, 2012

by Patrick Wensink (Author)

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"I've never known an American economy that didn't smell like Red Lobster's dumpster," begins Patrick Wensink's (bestselling author of Broken Piano for President) long-awaited essay collection.

Zipping together heartbreak and hilarity in one neat package, this book is one man's journey along the front lines of America's economic nightmare. These nonfiction pieces feature Wensink selling his own BBQ sauce, tying the knot in a doughnut shop, getting fired from more jobs than most hold in a lifetime and struggling to make ends meet as a stay-at-home-dad.

In the end, Wensink perseveres in typical self deprecating fashion, chronicling his unexpected rise to bestseller status when Broken Piano for President goes viral thanks to the World's Nicest Cease and Desist from Jack Daniel's.
These essays originally appeared in Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"There are plenty of bastards in this world, but Patrick Wensink isn't one of them. Well, maybe. He is our Terry Southern and Paul Krassner and possibly one day even our own Jonathan Swift..." - SCOTT MCCLANAHAN, author of The Collected Works of Scott McClanahan Vol. I

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lazy Fascist Press (October 21, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1621050645
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1621050643
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.44 x 8.5 inches

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4.0 2 ratings

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About the author

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Patrick Wensink

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Patrick Wensink is the bestselling author of five books for grownups. Most recently, he is the author of the celebrated children's book GO GO GORILLAS (Illustrated by Nate Wragg).

His work also appears in the New York Times, Esquire, Oxford American and others.

His next book will be 2018's GORILLAS GO BANANAS.

He lives in Portland, OR with his family.

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L. Grayson

I Think..

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

All writers are storytellers, some can talk about themselves. Some can't. Patrick is one who can. It's like, an old buddy in your living room. Not like his other books, if you're wondering. I LOVED Black Hole Blues. THIS was totally wonderfully honest and wondrous.

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Scott Erickson

An economy that smells like Red Lobster's dumpster

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2013

The book is introduced as follows: "I've never known an American economy that didn't smell like Red Lobster's dumpster." Well, I'm a bit older than the author, so I can remember (barely) when the economy was better, and smelled more like a Taco Bell dumpster. Thoughtful Americans observe that we inhabit a country on a downhill slide.

This sets the tone for this great collection of humorous and thoughtful essays. Because thoughtful Americans (there are a few left, they just never get elected to political office) are faced with a challenging question: In a culture that's batshit crazy, how do we live in a way that makes sense?

Well, Patrick Wensink has some answers to that. Such as selling homemade (and not quite legal) BBQ sauce at street festivals. Such as getting married in a donut shop. Such as becoming a best-selling author for four days. Such as pretending to be suitable for a full-time corporate job. Such as acting the role of a zombie in a short film. Such as considering selling his literary estate for a club sandwich and a Dr. Pepper.

The essays describing these adventures are very funny. Yet they are more than merely humorous, which is why I like them so much. They are also intelligent. I value being a thoughtful American, even in an America that fights on all fronts against being a thoughtful American.

Amidst the humor, we have substance. Patrick Wensink demonstrates that it's possible to be thoughtful about the evolution of State Fair junk food. Or Frank Sinatra's depressing Christmas album. Or the long-term social implications of Coca-Cola's introduction of New Coke. Or the connection between bologna and gentrification (you didn't realize there was a connection, did you).

So within a culture that fights against meaning, Patrick Wensink - damn him - dares to find it anyway. I mentioned that the book is very funny, right?