Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful

Holy shit.

That's how I felt on every page of this book. It ripped me raw in the best of ways. Wittels Wach is a phenomenal writer, but she writes real. Really real. The frustration. The fatigue. The emptiness. But also the laughter. It's so, so rare to find a book that can make you crack a smile through tears. It doesn't matter if you don't know who Harris Wittels was or have never enjoyed his work (and if that's so – who are you??). It doesn't matter if you've never had an addict in your life. It doesn't matter if the sun is shining and you found out you won the lottery in a pile of snuggly puppies and it's the happiest day of your life; you read this book and it smacks you hard with grief, bringing you right to the moment where life pivots, and all that precedes and proceeds from that hard stop; every page is a beautiful fucking whirlwind and I couldn't put it down.

I'll forever carry the titular line with me, a fantastic quote from Harris: “We are all horrible and wonderful and figuring it out.” But also: “Waldo asked me to spot him at the gym. Couldn't do it.” And also: “Aw man, when eye boogers turn sharp, forget about it.” And pretty much every quote he has about Phish. And Chilis. Ugh whatta guy. Rest in peace, dude.