Eventually, Wendy broke out on her own -- but continued to be admonished by her mother for not having enough quality orgasms. After a stint of door-to-door knife-selling, she began her first (and last) office job, where formed an unusual relationship with her big-time executive boss -- one that involved as much pot smoking and gold glitter as it did mentoring. Now, a comedian living in L.A., Wendy grapples with such grown-up issues as trying to kick her addiction to eating candy in bed, parenting dozens of high-maintenance stuffed animals, and finally learning how to drive.
> BOOK TOUR > BUY THE AUDIOBOOK (READ BY WENDY)
News and Reviews
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Microthrills was listed as one of Newsdays' best books of 2006.
"Wendy Spero's absurd, perfectly calibrated account of (for instance)
growing up with a sex-therapist mom may cause damage to internal organs from
helpless laughter."
-- Newsday.com
Go to article. |
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"'I just relish the act of bonding with strangers,' she explains. Her readers will relish it, too....In 2004, Ms Spero wove together her microthrills and her touching personal history in the one-woman show "Who's Your Daddy?" In this book, she works the same magic on paper.
-- The New York Times
See Hardcopy piece, or online version. |
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"Part Amy Sedaris, part Pee-wee Herman..."
See Hardcopy piece. |
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Check out an interview with Wendy at Powell's. |
| Microthrills just reached #11 on the LA Times Bestseller list! See list. | |
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"An enchanting memoir of a childhood spent in a cramped, one-bedroom Manhattan apartment with her sex therapist mother...suffused with equal parts tragedy and love -- and an unerring eye for the quirky."
Full Article -- Forward |
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"David Sedaris, watch out -- take a look at the memoir through a more relatable set of lenses. With her Wonder Years-on-Pixy Stix collection of sweetly funny nonfiction vignettes, Spero lets us in on what could very well be the secret to her success: That even the most seemingly trivial and incoherent moments in life can be the ones in which we find the most beauty, insight, and humor."
Full Article -- Venus Zine |
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"As the endearingly neurotic daughter of a widowed sex-therapist mother, Wendy Spero had no choice but to be funny."
Full Article -- TimeOut New York |
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"Say what you will about Wendy Spero's adolescence, but it was probably weirder than yours..."
Full Article -- New York Post |
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"Comedian Wendy Spero might accurately be called a hypochondriac - or a total freak - if she weren't so fucking hilarious. She made me laugh out loud several times (while reading outdoors in public) when moments earlier, after a particularly rought day, I'd been crying. If an author can do that, her book's a keeper." -- Bust Magazine |
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"Hilarious memoir about growing up eccentric in Manhattan, with lots of laugh-so-hard-you-snort- milk-out-your-nose moments." -- Daily Candy |
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"Spero's down-to-earth, adorably compulsive voice delivers some priceless moments." -- Publisher's Weekly |
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"Possesses a sweetness often lacking in today's comic fare" -- Booklist |
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"This memoir focuses on bizarre coming-of-age experiences that will make readers laugh aloud." -- Library Journal |
| *Microthrills was chosen by independent bookstores around the country to be on their American Bookseller's Association BOOKSENSE PICK LIST* | |
| "Microthrills will make you cringe with glee. Wendy takes you insider her peculiar mind and personal history with a brazen vulnerability that is the rare providence of truly great humorists. She has a singular and completely warped view of the world, able to find poignancy and jubilation in life's nagging minutiae. David Sedaris, watch your back!" -- Ed Helms,The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | |
| "Reading Microthrills is like breathing air -- It feels natural. You don't feel yourself reading. Wendy Spero paints a world both familiar and unique -- so specific that you feel implanted in her moments. What I'm trying to say is that I really like it. And I'm trying to say it in a hoity-toity way." --Sarah Silverman | |
| "Microthrills was a series of micro-orgasms for me, not only in my funny bone, but throughout my brain. I love the magical minutiae of the way Wendy Spero's mind works. This book will be loved, loved, loved by all. --Jill Soloway, author, Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants, co-executive producer, Six Feet Under | |
| "Funny and touch and insightful. Microthrills is all about the little highlights of life--and by the first chapter, I knew it was going to be a highlight of my reading year. I love this book. --AJ Jacobs, Editor, Esquire Magazine, author, The Know It All | |
| "Microthrills is terrific. Finally a book for people that think that insects having sex is hot--which, if they'd come out and admit it, is just about everybody." --Andy Borowitz, creator, The Borowitz Report | |