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From the cocreator, writer, and star of the TruTV sitcom Those Who Can’t, and one of Variety’s "10 Comics to Watch," this is Adam Cayton-Holland’s "heartbreaking work of genius" (Booklist) about the comedian’s relationship with his younger sister, who took her own life.Meet the Magnificent Cayton-Hollands, a trio of brilliant and precocious teenagers from Denver, destined to change the world. Anna, Adam, and Lydia were taught by their father, a civil rights lawyer, and mother, an investigative journalist, to recognize injustice and have their hearts wide open to the universe. They grew up raised on the belief that to live meant to absorb everything that came their way—the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking.
Adam chose to meet life’s tough breaks and cruel realities with stand-up comedy; his older sister chose law. However, their youngest sister, Lydia, wrestled with depression and ultimately took her own life—a devastating tragedy that struck the Cayton-Holland family at the same moment Adam’s comedy career was finally getting off the ground. This revelatory and "darkly poignant" (
Kirkus Reviews) memoir is Adam’s story of how he learned to move forward in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.
Both a moving tribute to a lost sibling and an "inspiring, tragic, and at times heartrendingly funny" (
People) guide to navigating loss,
Tragedy Plus Time is "essential reading for anyone who has ever lost someone, anyone who has ever grieved someone, or anyone who has ever loved someone" (Kumail Nanjiani, Academy Award-nominated writer and star of
The Big Sick).
About the author
Adam Cayton-Holland is a national touring comic who has appeared on Conan, @midnight, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, Happy Endings, Deadbeat, Flophouse, Hidden America with Jonah Ray, and was named one of Esquire’s “25 Comics to Watch” and Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch.” Adam co-created, writes, and stars in truTV’s Those Who Can’t along with his fellow members of the comedy troupe, The Grawlix. His albums I Don’t Know If I Happy and Backyards are available on iTunes, and his writing has appeared in Village Voice, Spin, The A.V. Club, and The Atlantic. Adam has been described as “genial” and “with pretty decent teeth.” He is the author of Tragedy Plus Time.
Summary
“Inspiring, tragic, and at times heart-rendingly funny.” —People
Unsentimental, unexpectedly funny, and incredibly honest, Tragedy Plus Time is a love letter to every family that has ever felt messy, complicated, or (even momentarily) magnificent.
Meet the Magnificent Cayton-Hollands, a trio of brilliant, acerbic teenagers from Denver, Colorado, who were going to change the world. Anna, Adam, and Lydia were taught by their father, a civil rights lawyer, and mother, an investigative journalist, to recognize injustice and have their hearts open to the universe—the good, the bad, the heartbreaking (and, inadvertently, the anxiety-inducing and the obsessive-compulsive disorder-fueling).
Adam chose to meet life’s tough breaks and cruel realities with stand-up comedy; his older sister, Anna, chose law; while their youngest sister, Lydia, struggled to find her place in the world. Beautiful and whip-smart, Lydia was witty, extremely sensitive, fiercely stubborn, and always somewhat haunted. She and Adam bonded over comedy from a young age, running skits in their basement and obsessing over episodes of The Simpsons.
When Adam sunk into a deep depression in college, it was Lydia who was able to reach him and pull him out. But years later as Adam’s career takes off, Lydia’s own depression overtakes her, and, though he tries, Adam can’t return the favor. When she takes her own life, the family is devastated, and Adam throws himself into his stand-up, drinking, and rage. He struggles with disturbing memories of Lydia’s death and turns to EMDR therapy to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder when he realizes there’s a difference between losing and losing it.
Adam Cayton-Holland is a tremendously talented writer and comedian, uniquely poised to take readers to the edges of comedy and tragedy, brilliance and madness. Tragedy Plus Time is a revelatory, darkly funny, and poignant tribute to a lost sibling that will have you reaching for the phone to call your brother or sister by the last page.
Additional text
“Inspiring, tragic, and at times heart-rendingly funny.” —People
