The Double Life Is Twice as Good

Book excerpt: Wildly original novelist, essayist, and performance artist Jonathan Ames delivers a hilarious, risqué, and loveable selection of articles, essays, and fiction, including several previously unpublished pieces. In The Double Life Is Twice as Good, fans will be treated to a deft and charming compilation of Ames’s journalism, personal essays, and short fiction. Featuring illuminating profiles of Marilyn Manson and Lenny Kravitz, his adventures at a goth festival in the Midwest, a story written for Esquire on a napkin, as well as a comic strip collaboration with graphic artist Nick Bertozzi, Ames’s unique style and personality-driven humor shines throughout this wickedly funny collection. Also included is the short story, “Bored to Death,” a Raymond Chandler–esque tale about a struggling writer-turned-detective who becomes quickly embroiled in the search for a missing college co-ed, which inspired the HBO series of the same name. Described by The Portland Oregonian as “an edgier David Sedaris,” Ames will have you hooked with this brilliant collection.