Ruining It for Everybody

by Jim Knipfel

Praised by The New York Timesfor his "wicked black humor" and by Thomas Pynchon for putting readers on "an extraordinary emotional ride," Jim Knipfel has written about the failings of his body (Slackjaw) and the failings of his mind (Quitting the Nairobi Trio). Now, in his third-and finest-memoir, Knipfel looks unflinchingly at his soul, and comes to some surprising conclusions in this anti-spirituality spiritual manifesto.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585423378
• ISBN13: 9781585423378
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Tarcher
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 6.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Very Good

I thought this book was extremely well done. It reads like Jim Knipfel's personal confession. I van read how he has changed - from a sad little misanthropeto am empathetic misanthrope. I don't mean that in a negative way, I think Jim would agree.

Better than Sedaris--but different

Um, giving Jim Knipfel one star because he's not like David Sedaris is absurd. Knipfel is better than Sedaris because he's darker and he's smarter. This is an extraordinary book for intelligent people. And you'll look cool reading it.

He's one of the best writers in America (a well-kept secret)

You will inhale this book, possibly in one sitting. Great cover, but the odd, square packaging makes it look a bit like a gift-book. Look past that and buy this book, because it contains the writing of one of our most gifted writers. Knipfel is brilliant.

And now for something completely different...

For those who have been following Jim Knipfel's work for a while, RUINING IT FOR EVERYBODY represents yet another plateau achieved by a writer who, with his two previous memoirs, SLACKJAW and QUITTING THE NAIROBI TRIO, has been carrying his readers along a sometimes harrowing, often hilarious ride through his "karmically"-challenged life full of foibles, fools, and shenanigans. (Oh, so many shenanigans!)In RUINING FOR EVERYBODY, Mr. Knipfel examines the specters of his angry youth that continue to haunt his present. It is a work full of careful observations. It is also an apologia, but this apologia comes not at the end of life. Instead, it comes at what must be the beginning of a new life for the author. (A beginning whose path we can begin to see branch out in one of Mr. Knipfel's fictional works: THE BUZZING... May there be many more to come!)I suggest this book be read in one sitting if you can manage it. Then try going back over passages at random. I believe this book, like Pessoa's THE BOOK OF DISQUIET, lends itself to this sort of casual perusal and contemplation. For in a sense, Mr. Knipfel's present work stands closer to parable than memoir, and defies simple genre classification but rather bends, distorts and juxtaposes genres in new and interesting ways (much like he did in THE BUZZING).The various memories, reflections and observations explored in this book offer the reader wisdom on a par with THE ROSY CRUCIFIXION and Kurt Vonnegut's best works: BLUE BEARD, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, and CAT'S CRADLE. Best of all it's a spiritual work that doesn't require faith in anything outside of oneself. It is a work of great human spirit... A must read.Oh, and it also answers that age-old question: "Can a person get a mild dose of stigmata?"