"Eddie Sarfaty’s Mental made
me laugh out loud on the subway, eliciting glares from strangers. Read it in public if you don’t mind drawing attention to yourself,
read it in private if you do mind, but read it."
-- Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hours
“Eddie Sarfaty's humor is never cruel --
or only as cruel as life itself. Whereas most humorists are so
broad, so exaggerated that no chapter is as funny as a single page
and no page as funny as a sentence, Sarfaty doesn't deal in
one-liners or cheap laughs. All his laughs are expensive --
they call on deep reserves of observation, humanity and kindness.
This is a book you will read in one sitting all the way to the end
with a smile on your face and tears in your eyes.”
-- Edmund White, author
of A Boy's Own Story
"Eddie Sarfaty is a gifted stand-up
comic, but his book is not just a collection of humorous sketches
and clever one-liners. These are fully realized true-life stories,
fresh and well-observed, expertly crafted and naturally funny.
Sarfaty uses comedy not to keep his people at arm's length but to
bring us closer to them. He is not afraid to move us and he is not
afraid to be smart. And he writes beautifully, like an angel with a
wise heart and a wonderfully foul mouth."
-- Christopher Bram,
author of God’s & Monsters
“In this engaging and frequently
hilarious collection, Eddie Sarfaty combines humor and poignancy as
skillfully as he writes about being Jewish and gay. This book
proves that in addition to being a talented stand-up
comedian, Eddie's also a wonderful writer.”
-- Bob Smith, author of
Selfish & Perverse
"Eddie Sarfaty 's new book,
Mental initially seems to be a pleasingly accessible memoir of very
funny, linked stories. It turns out to be a searingly
opinionated, totally original, blowtorch of a memoir of very funny,
linked stories. Reading Mental's sorta like reaching for a
bottle of fruit punch Gatorade, and realizing mid gulp that you're
downing hot paprika-spiked Hungarian moonshine."
-- Eric Orner, author of
The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green
"Anyone who reads
this book and doesn't fall in love with Eddie Sarfaty is an idiot."
-- Michael Thomas Ford,
author of Last Summer "In Mental: Funny in the Head, Sarfaty mixes the grotesque and
the tender into a heartbreaking portrait of family, that most potent
of touchstones. Sarfaty creates a world that echoes the poignant
irony of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs but is, without
question, entirely his own."
-- Patrick Moore, author
of Tweaked
"It's very good, but I could
do without the language." -- Sonny
Sarfaty, Eddie's mom
"Hilarious! If only he
were this funny on Wednesdays at 3."
-- Dr. Ben, Eddie's shrink
