Self-Help: A Novel

by Pat Boccuzzi

Jim Pensadesso is your typical twenty-something loser, disillusioned and stuck in the dull rut of post-college life. His unremarkable days revolve around a minimum wage '9 to 5' data job that he hates, and end in sullen nights alone, drinking and smoking pot. He's clever and sarcastic, mopey but good-natured, and drifts aimlessly in the unending neurotic bowels of a quarter-life crisis. Jim Pensadesso swears he's on the brink of snapping.

But this dark, comedic novel isn't about the Jim Pensadesso in the present, it's about the Jim Pensadesso later... three decades later. And it's about the two Jims together at the same time. While on an annual vacation to their deceased parents' timeshare, Jim meets his future self slumming in a Caribbean dive bar. A reeking and raving drunk, crazy Older Jim (or "Older Me" as he's called) desperately kidnaps the reluctant younger hero for a debauched tropical journey to investigate what causes life to go so wrong.

What lies at the heart of a person's regret? When existence is so short and precious, what will matter too late in the game? Success, money and fame? Or self-esteem, happiness and honesty?

Blending humor, existentialism, eastern attitudes and a tiny trace of both science-fiction and action, this first-person, stream of consciousness narrative mixes laughter, hard truths and heartbreaking life lessons. It's intended for anyone who has ever stood on the brink of "real" adulthood and its routine monotony, and wondered "What next?"

Unknown Binding

About the author

Pat Boccuzzi is a Los Angeles based writer and comedian. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, he attended Emerson College for Writing and Media Studies. In 2007, Pat was one of seven finalists in Comedy Central's nationwide stand-up competition, "Open Mic Fight." He has performed all over the nation and has been featured in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and Comedy Central.