Trainwreck

Growing up a privileged upper middle class kid in New York City, Jeff Nichols should have had it all. Instead, with a litany of learning disabilities and conditions ranging from ADD and dyslexia to Tourette's, there was no smooth sailing for him. After bouncing from elite private school to elite private school, he lands at Hobart College, where he drinks everything that is offered to him and tries every drug known to man, earning the nickname "Spicoli" (after the stoner from Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Miraculously, he graduates and is offered gainful employment at Merrill Lynch, where he manages to last a year until being unceremoniously dumped with the words, "You are weird, incompetent, and often stink of booze." And that's when Jeff discovers AA . . . mainly as an ideal forum for working on material for a burgeoning stand-up career and meeting girls. His string of disastrous odd jobs (dictionary salesman, Broadway usher, substitute teacher in NYC public schools) ultimately leads him to discover his heart's desire: charter fishing. When Jeff decides to document his misadventures and is turned down by every literary agent in town, he perseveres. Things then take a crazy turn when a leading indie production company buys rights to his unpublished manuscript, and his life as a loveable screw-up is brought to the screen. Hilarious, kooky, and oddly inspiring, Trainwreckis proof that a life disastrously lived can still turn out beyond your wildest imaginings.

"This is a romp of a book, a rowdy ride...leavened with a dazzling comic energy." -- Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes, "We've worked for years with Jeff Nichols on- and offstage, writing and performing sketches, and while he's a borderline lunatic, he's also one of the funniest guys we've ever met. This book manages to let the best parts of him shine through while celebrating the worst." -- The Whitest Kids U' Know, "There's nothing worse than having a friend ask you to read her son's miserable memoir of wanton life abuse. I intended to read three pages and lie and cheat pretending I had read the clueless work. Instead, I read Trainwreck in one sitting. I didn't do any work all day long. It's that good. Don't buy this book or your day too will be ruined." -- Laurence Leamer, author of Madness Under the Royal Palms, "How an idiot like Jeff wrote such a wonderful book is mind-boggling. Trainwreck is raw and funny and brutally honest...I highly recommend reading it." -- John Viener, comedian, writer, and voice actor on Family Guy

Jeff Nichols is a stand-up comic and charter fisherman. His writing has appeared in the New York Post and Penthouse. He lives in New York City.