Livestream Reading: Kelly Williams Brown

Annie Bloom’s welcomes Kelly Williams Brown, author of Adulting, for a livestream reading from her new book, Easy Crafts for the Insane: A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things. She will be joined by Amy Dresner, author of the memoir My Fair Junkie.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-ysrzwvHtYrpZxKpm8HJj5kawCR1p-T

About Easy Crafts for the Insane:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Adulting comes a story about how to make something when you’re capable of nothing. Kelly Williams Brown had 700 Bad Days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: she wrote a bestselling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to live as grown-ups in an often-screwed-up world, though these accomplishments mostly just made her feel fraudulent. One of the few things that kept her moving forward was, improbably, crafting. Not Martha Stewart–perfect crafting, either—what could be called “simple,” “accessible” or, perhaps, “rustic” creations were the joy and accomplishments she found in her worst days. To craft is to set things right in the littlest of ways; no matter how disconnected you feel, you can still fold a tiny paper star, and that’s not nothing. In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.

Kelly Williams Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of Adulting and Gracious. A former reporter, ad copywriter, and Bourbon Street bartender, she lives with her giant, neurotic dog in Salem, Oregon.

About My Fair Junkie:

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Amy Dresner had it all: a top-notch private-school education, the most expensive summer camps, and even a weekly clothing allowance. But at 24, she started dabbling in meth in San Francisco and unleashed a fiendish addiction monster. Soon, if you could snort it, smoke it, or have sex with it, she did. Thus began a spiral that eventually landed her in the psych ward–and then penniless, divorced, and looking at 240 hours of court-ordered community service. For two years, assigned to a Hollywood Boulevard “chain gang,” she swept up syringes (and worse) as she bounced from rehabs to halfway houses, all while struggling with sobriety, sex addiction, and starting over in her forties. In the tradition of Orange Is the New Black and Jerry Stahl’s Permanent Midnight, this is an insightful, darkly funny, and shamelessly honest memoir of one woman’s battle with all forms of addiction, hitting rock bottom, and forging a path to a life worth living.

Amy Dresner is a journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. She was a regular columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine theFix.com for 7 years and has freelanced for Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice, Salon and many other publications. Elle magazine compared Dresner’s darkly comic memoir to Carrie Fisher’s Postcards from the Edge and Mary Karr’s Lit, calling Dresner’s book “one for the ages.” Dresner has appeared on the television show The Doctors and on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including Dr. Drew, Dopey, and Rich Roll. She does regular speaking engagements around the U.S. She is the co-host to social worker Joe Schrank of the Rehab Confidential Podcast. Her book is currently in development for a TV series.