Cool Calm Contentious Essays Author:Merrill Markoe In this hilarious collection of candid essays, including two pieces new to this edition, New York Timesbestselling author Merrill Markoe reveals much about her personal life—as well as the secret formula for comedy: Start out with a difficult mother, develop some classic teenage insecurities, add a few relationships with narcissistic ... more »men, toss in an unruly pack of selfish dogs, finish it off with the kind of crystalline perspective that only comes from years of navigating a roiling sea of unpleasant and unappeasable people, and—voilà—you’re funny! Cool, Calm & Contentious is honest, unapologetic, sometimes heartbreaking, but always shot through with Merrill Markoe’s biting, bracing wit.
The place, the food, everything awful: the diaries of Ronny Markoe --
In praise of crazy mommies --
Never again --
Why I love dogs --
But enough about me: narcissism for echoes --
Saturday night with Hieronymus Bosch --
When I was Jack Kerouac --
Bobby --
My advice to the fidgety young people --
The dog prattler --
Virginity entrepreneurs --
How to spot an asshole --
A chance to dance --
Selfishness 101 (for dogs) --
Medusa's sister --
Roiling on a river --
Jimmy explains his wake-up techniques --
Celebrity criminals and criminal celebrities: celebrity 2.0 --
The last Tuesday I will ever live through --
A turkey for Lewis : a special holiday tale for dogs« less