The Brand New Catastrophe cover art

The Brand New Catastrophe

A Memoir

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The Brand New Catastrophe

By: Mike Scalise
Narrated by: Mike Scalise
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About this listen

Raucous family memoir meets medical adventure in this heartfelt, hilarious book exploring the public and private theaters of illness.

After a tumor bursts in Mike Scalise's brain, leaving him with a hole in the head and malfunctioning hormones, he must navigate a new alien world of illness maintenance. His mother, who has a chronic heart condition and a flair for drama, becomes a complicated model as she competes with him for the status of "best sick person". The Brand New Catastrophe is a moving, funny exploration of how we define ourselves by the stories we choose to tell. And here, in audio, Scalise tells his stories directly to the listener, bringing added depth and unmatched sincerity to this very personal story.

Mike Scalise's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Agni, Indiewire, The Paris Review Daily, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships and scholarships from Bread Loaf, Yaddo, and the Ucross Foundation and was the Philip Roth Writer in Residence at Bucknell University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

The Brand New Catastrophe is the winner of the Center for Fiction's Christopher Doheny Award, which recognizes excellence in writing about serious illness. The prize was created by Audible in honor of Chris Doheny, a long-time employee who lost his battle with cystic fibrosis in 2013.

Cover design by Oliver Munday.

©2017 Mike Scalise (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Comedy & Humour Dysfunctional Families History Medical Relationships Funny Heartfelt Witty

Editorial reviews

Chris Doheny - one of my closest friends and favorite colleagues - passed away in 2013 due to complications from cystic fibrosis. Unless you were part of his close inner circle (and even then the topic didn't come up often), Chris didn't talk much about his illness; about how difficult it was for him to breathe sometimes, and how a double-lung transplant, the last resort for treatment, which Chris received in 2010, would still only potentially give him a few more years.

Instead, Chris liked to talk about books. (And music. And good coffee. And soccer. But a lot about books.) In our work together at Audible, Chris championed his favorites - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, Pastoralia by George Saunders, and Tinkers by Paul Harding...long before it won the Pulitzer. The first book he ever recommended to me, Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, is still one of my favorites, and my children love Jon Klassen's darkly funny I Want My Hat Back, a gift from 'Uncle Chris' that perfectly reflected his wicked sense of humor. Chris's discerning taste and deep love of literature was prevalent in all facets of his life - he even named his pet rabbit Vonnegut. Towards the end, he was almost done writing his own novel, and it was at his request that his vast collection of books was given away at his funeral - the best way for a book lover to leave a piece of himself with his friends.

And when we knew that the end was coming, Audible's publisher, Beth Anderson - the woman who hired both me and Chris and had been our mentor since 2004 - worked with Chris to figure out the best way we could honor him. And so The Christopher Doheny Award was established with The Center for Fiction to recognize excellence in fiction or nonfiction on the topic of serious physical illness. The author has to have personal experience dealing with life-threatening illness, either his or her own or that of a close relative or friend. Because even though Chris didn't let CF define him, he thought it important that more books address the toll that serious illness can take.

I'm honored to serve as one of the judges for the Doheny Award each year - despite the pressure of living up to Chris's high literary standards! - and am proud to share that the latest winner is now available: The Brand New Catastrophe by Mike Scalise. In his frank and funny memoir, Mike wrestles with how we define ourselves by the stories we choose to tell. It just so happens that part of Mike's story is about a brain tumor...that burst in his head. Chris would have loved Mike's take on living a meaningful life without letting illness become the full story; he also would have loved having his namesake prize share front cover billing with one of his favorite authors, Dave Eggers, who had this to say about The Brand New Catastrophe: "A very funny book about the frailties of the flesh, the absurdities of modern medicine, and how to stay sane amid it all. Scalise's voice is fantastically entertaining, unfailingly honest." —Diana

Critic Reviews

"A very funny book about the frailties of the flesh, the absurdities of modern medicine, and how to stay sane amid it all. Scalise's voice is fantastically entertaining, unfailingly honest." (Dave Eggers, author of A Hologram for the King and Heroes of the Frontier)
"An offbeat, witty memoir.... Scalise is unsparing in recounting his reaction to his diagnosis while keeping the reader engaged in a story about catastrophe… Sensitive and well-written." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fascinating and engaging.... Scalise's narrative verve and brisk prose create a winning chronicle of illness, recovery, and "courageous defiance." A frankly written debut memoir that captures all the fright of a medical calamity and the humor and grace necessary to survive it." (Kirkus Reviews)

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