No Laughing Matter - Couverture souple

Heller, Joseph; Vogel, Speed

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0552130729 ISBN 13 : 9780552130721

Editeur : Corgi, 1987

Synopsis

Joseph Heller is the distinguished author of CATCH-22 and other classic novels. Speed Vogel is a retired textile manufacturer, sometime artist and herring taster. Together, they have written an inspiring account of a calamitous illness - Guillain-Barre syndrome - suffered by Joe. And while Joe fought for his life, Speed moved into Joe's apartment, thenceforth to act as his messenger, servant and general factotum. He not only wrote but signed Joe's cheques, wined and dined (at Joe's expense) his favourite nurses and warded off the tantrums of his paralysed buddy.Joe's friends rallied around: Mel Brooks, arch-hypochondriac of the Western world; Mario Puzo, the most reluctant hospital visitor of all time, and Dustin Hoffman, who twice came through with strokes of imagination that helped to make Joe's time in hospital a little easier.But it was Speed Vogel who played the major part in helping Joe Heller, writer and buddyextraordinaire, through his greatest crisis, and it is their combined efforts which have produced a story that is as wacky, terrifying and great-hearted as any fiction Joseph Heller ever wrote.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

An uproarious and frank memoir of illness and recovery, No Laughing Matter is a story of friendship and recuperation from the author of the classic Catch-22.

It all began one typical day in the life of Joe Heller. He was jogging four miles at a clip these days, working on his novel God Knows, coping with the complications of an unpleasant divorce, and pigging out once or twice a week on Chinese food with cronies like Mel Brooks, Mario Puzo, and his buddy of more than twenty years, Speed Vogel. He was feeling perfectly fine that day—but within twenty-four hours he would be in intensive care at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital. He would remain hospitalized for nearly six months and leave in a wheelchair.

Joseph Heller had Guillain-Barré syndrome, a debilitating, sometimes fatal condition that can leave its victims paralyzed from head to toe. The clan gathered immediately. Speed—sometime artist, sometime businessman, sometime herring taster, and now a coauthor—moved into Joe's apartment as messenger, servant, and shaman. Mel Brooks, arch-hypochondriac of the Western world, knew as much about Heller's condition as the doctors. Mario Puzo, author of the preeminent gangster novel of our time, proved to be the most reluctant man ever to be dragged along on a hospital visit. These and lots of others rallied around the sickbed in a show of loyalty and friendship that not only built a wild and spirited camaraderie but helped bring Joe Heller, writer and buddy extraordinaire, through his greatest crisis.

This book is an inspiring, hilarious memoir of a calamitous illness and the rocky road to recuperation—as only the author of Catch-22 and the friend who helped him back to health could tell it. No Laughing Matter is as wacky, terrifying, and greathearted as any fiction Joseph Heller ever wrote.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

MEMOIR
It all began one typical day in the life of Joe Heller. He was jogging four miles at a clip these days, working on his novel God Knows, coping with the complications of an unpleasant divorce, and pigging out once or twice a week on Chinese food with cronies like Mel Brooks, Mario Puzo, and his buddy of more than twenty years, Speed Vogel. He was feeling perfectly fine that day -- but within twenty-four hours he would be in intensive care at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital. He would remain hospitalized for nearly six months and leave in a wheelchair.
Joseph Heller had Guillain-Barré syndrome, a debilitating, sometimes fatal condition that can leave its victims paralyzed from head to toe. The clan gathered immediately. Speed -- sometime artist, sometime businessman, sometime herring taster, and now a coauthor -- moved into Joe's apartment as messenger, servant, and shaman. Mel Brooks, arch-hypochondriac of the Western world, knew as much about Heller's condition as the doctors. Mario Puzo, author of the preeminent gangster novel of our time, proved to be the most reluctant man ever to be dragged along on a hospital visit. These and lots of others rallied around the sickbed in a show of loyalty and friendship that not only built a wild and spirited camaraderie but helped bring Joe Heller, writer and buddy extraordinaire, through his greatest crisis.
This book is an inspiring, hilarious memoir of a calamitous illness and the rocky road to recuperation -- as only the author of Catch-22 and the friend who helped him back to health could tell it. No Laughing Matter is as wacky, terrifying, and great-hearted as any fiction Joseph Heller ever wrote.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Corgi
• Date d'édition: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0552130729
• ISBN 13: 9780552130721
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 304