On sale October 13, available for online order now, Happy Hour is for Amateurs in paperback:
Why the change in subtitle? That’s explained below.
To those of you who bought enough copies of the hardcover to get us to this point, thank you. To those who’ve waited for it to come out in paperback, here you go, you cheap bastards.*
As to the subtitle change, we figured why not distill the book to its essence? Everything else in it’s 101 proof, why not the tag line? And let’s face it – the book’s scope is a lot broader than law, or any one profession. We learned that from the reader feedback, the countless emails saying “I’m not a lawyer, but I understand.” Somewhere in a the haze of lurid comedic stuff, we stumbled on the questions of the moment, ones a lot of people have been asking themselves lately. How, when, why did I get on this treadmill? And where the fuck am I headed?
And this brings me to a final point – a request. Word of mouth’s everything with a book like this. I’m just a writer, shit on the self promotion side. So if you’ve read the book and liked it, for the laughs, the message, whatever – tell somebody. Send an email, a text, put a post on a bulletin board or Twitter or review it on Amazon. Give your copy to someone else. This isn’t just a crass marketing thing. This is about ideas. The concept emerging from Happy Hour – the need to work at things that stimulate us, rather than slapping on the old golden handcuffs – is beginning to catch in a way it hasn’t before. If this book can help put any amount of weight behind that wave, well, shit… What’s greater success than that?
To any press or bloggers seeking interviews or review copies, please send an email through the contact link on this page.
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*Actually, I understand. The last year hasn’t been kind to anyone’s disposable income, and I prefer reading in paperback myself. Hardcovers are clumsy and annoying. You have to break the spine in four places before you can even read the things.
101 proof is great place to be. I’m studying in Paris for the semester and on my way out of the states, I only had space to pack one bottle. SO I chose something that I knew I couldn’t find here. A decision made on the grounds that it has a little more punch, suits a students budget, and simply screams Bourbon as loud as anything can led me to the obvious choice, Wild Turkey.
The French and other foreigners that come through my place don’t understand the stuff, but that’s for the best. One bottle is will be woefully inadequate to get me through the semester and I’d rather not waste the stuff.
The new cover is a big improvement, good work. I guess a picture of a bottle of moonshine wouldn’t sell as well, so it works as a compromise. I own the book, but if I have a few bucks left come the Xmas shopping bust, I’ll buy my dad (a lawyer) a copy of the paperbook.
PL: Older lawyers seem to like the book a lot more than younger ones. Why, who knows.
That bottle won’t make it through the end of this month. I guarantee it. Once you start, you can’t stop.
Odd you should mention bourbon in France. (No, no cheap joke there). One of the best stories I’ve heard about drunken misbehavior involves exactly those elements. Sadly, the person the story’s about would kill me if I let it out. Let’s just say, avoid overt public vandalism while under that bottle’s manipulations.
I’m not sure how widely distributed the book is in the USA but in Canada it wasn’t in a lot of book stores because I remember trying to buy a copy twice but the store not having any copies. I know it’s a great book though having read some of the stories online. I’ll tell my friends to buy a copy.
PL: We pushed it hard through Amazon, which I think might have neglected some book store channels on the initial run. But this wasn’t without reason. Bookstores stuck the thing in Law, which is a black hole for a book like this.
They won’t do that with the softcover.
Maybe it’s me but I loved the older cover page of your book. A BlackBerry in a rocks glass full of some delicious Scotch or Bourbon (I am assuming), that black background with the neon blue lighting just said everything you needed to know about the book. Without actually saying anything.
p.s: I never bought the hard copy, only an e-copy. I know.
PL: The other copy’s graphics were great. A credit to the genius of Bunny and Donika, who designed it. The glossy sheen, however, and the thickness of the pages, left a lot to be desired. It looked a lot like a high school textbook.
Live and learn. We still sold well despite the fact that when they read it, the Associated Press, which was supposed to review it, suddenly balked and many mainstream media outlets walked away, finding it too racy to touch.
Bullshit on that. It wasn’t just the raunchiness, it was the aggressiveness. We went after a flawed concept, or narrative, the media and likes to sell, and we offered up an obnoxious, brutally open take on it that most people would rather not consider. And to really confound people, the prose was better than 75% of the material reviewed in serious publications. Look at the Amazon reviews. People who hated it even had to admit it was well written. That screws up a reviewer looking for an angle of attack.
If people only knew how ridiculous the media is, they’d reject most of what it pushes. It’s got nothing to do with quality or uniqueness or anything like that, and everything to do with the biases of the gatekeepers. It’s been amusing to see it up close. And enlightening.
Done. I don’t know what 300 friends on facebook do in terms of sales, I wrote it up this way:
“Everyone who graduated college and wonders WTF am I doing with my life while sitting at your job, do yourself a favor and read this book. ”
I think you and Tucker are probably 80% responsible for me traveling and having fun with my life instead of sitting in the office somewhere. the other 20% is probably laziness.
PL: Thanks. I seriously believe, as cynical as I am, that people graduating now can and should break the cycle of golden handcuffs. It just takes early enlightenment. And what better way to achieve that than a book about driving on nitrous oxide, getting hit by a car on the way to your first law firm interview, or the blessed “3:1 Ratio” all closet degenerate corporate slaves live under.
Why didn’t you do a trade paperback in the first place?
I bought the hardcover when it came out, don’t get me wrong the book is great; but it had the goofiest binding, cover, and size I have ever seen. Literally judging the book by its cover, it was cheesy*; and had I not already been a fan I would not have purchased it.
If they are going to shaft you on the hardcover production end for the next book, please just go with trade paperback. I’ve loaned my copy out and given the book as a gift, after having hyping it. And every time it is met with a “what the hell is this that you are giving me?” look.
*Graphics were fine though
PL: I wanted to do it trade paperback in the first place. But you get a better deal with the hardcover. The imprint really put a shitload of effort behind. My editor worked his ass off and was into the project at the deepest level, and still is. The people who did the binding, however… They had different ideas.
I think everything in the industry is going to trade paperback in the future.
Congratulations Page. Glad to see you’re doing well and still experiencing success in a difficult industry.
All is well here. Due to the natural progression of the program I am spending more and more time doing the practical learning of what I am setting out to be and less and less of the theoretical. Couldn’t be happier and without question the long road has been made worth it. I knew I wasn’t crazy all those years ago, reading the blogspot, and it helped a lot knowing others felt the same way when my whole world around me told that I was nuts. Congrats, and cannot wait for the second book.
PL: Thank you. I’ve no choice but to experience success here. It’s involuntary. I can’t stop writing shit, even though. frankly, I wish I could.
None of us were crazy, and in the next five years I think a lot more people with be thinking like we do.
I was lucky enough to read a galley copy of your book (I’m not sure if that’s the proper spelling of the word “galley” in this context, but I work on a boat and have limited knowledge of publishing). I enjoyed it so much that I felt guilty for having not spent money on it, yet still wanted to hold out for the paperback for basically the same reasons you mentioned.
I’ve never worked in law. I’ve never even worked in an office. I graduated two years ago and have been in the service industry since then. None of this stopped me from feeling that I know all the people you described so well or relating to a good number of the experiences you had. Your story, as you already know, has correlations far beyond the legal profession. I’ve yet to read anyone write so incisively and eloquently about the gap between our professional demeanor and actual selves.
I don’t hate my current work as much as you hated yours. I get to move around, I’m free from cubicles, desks, and computer screens. Most of the time people are courteous and polite to me. But I’m still a different person at work then I am off work. Had I not read your book, it would have probably taken me longer to realize just how much of a toll that can take on a person.
Thanks for the lesson, man. I’ll be buying the softcover and pimping it to everyone I know.
PL: Those galleys are basically collector’s items among people who really liked the book. It’s twelve pages longer than the final.
Thanks for the pimping. But please, don’t feel the need to run out and buy one. Just suggest it to friends. It’s good enough that you read it.
Is there any explanation for the HHFA video-skits floating around youtube?
PL: Would it suffice to say the road to hell’s paved with good intentions? Sometimes things don’t work exactly as planned.
As a cheap bastard myself, I have indeed been waiting for the paperback, and will buy it the first day. I just have to ask, and I do not expect you to answer, but is that really you on the new cover? Or just some dude? Have a nice day.
PL: I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a point collared shirt. I also have a better jaw line.
Oddly, though, the hands are near identical to mine.
As per your comment about 5 years out, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that sitting at a desk, worrying about working withing artificially-created politics (dubbed “office culture”) to make money I wasn’t going to see for a stock price and superiors who already had more than enough cash is anyone’s idea of a good time. Certainly wasn’t mine.
PL: You underestimate the power of golden handcuffs. You’re not the rule, dude, not even close. Ninety percent of white collar workers will buy the expensive car, the big house, have the kids and get themselves in locked into a long term debt repayment scenario. And then they’re Stuck.
I’m definetely a fan of the new design. I liked the other one because it was subtle, but subtle doesn’t get attention. I loaned it to a few friends but it took a lot of explaining when they asked what the book was about in a few sentences. I think people like to be able to easily categorize things, and your book defies categorization. “A lawyer with a drinking problem” doesn’t do justice to the scope of your book, but it’s not a terrible summary. Anyway, I hope it blows the fuck up, your writing always rings true and entertains me, when most of the stuff in the mainstream fails at doing one of those things.
PL: The mainstream’s aimed at the lowest common denominator, and right now, “low” finds a new basement every day. I’ve little faith in the average American’s intellect and even I’m shocked when I see some of the shit people will eat up as entertainment. Perez Hilton looks like high art against a lot of it.
Hi, I WILL buy your book at some stage I swear. However I quit my job and moved to the rainforest in June. It´s fantastic! However a package of socks my mother sent me in July has still not reached me, so I will wait to purchase until I am within reach of a more reliable mail system.
To anyone else reading, I do highly recommend quitting your job and going anywhere else. To do anything new. If nothing else, you´re off the treadmill.
Cheers
Jess
PL: Don’t buy it yet. Wait until you’re in uglier surroundings to read it. No good comes of thinking about lawyers, offices and the shiite of corporate life amongst the beauty of your current location.
You know, since the first day I discovered your site, I always thought the name philalawyer was a combination of philosopher + lawyer (I just kind of ignored the fact that it was ‘phila’ and not ‘philo’). Reading your articles always made me think more about my own life and the path that I currently find myself on, which also added to the philosopher + lawyer idea. Then I saw the picture of the cover from your book, and realized it was Philadelphia Lawyer! Not that it will change the way I look at your writing or anything, just thought it was interesting that I assumed it… Anyway, this didn’t really have anything to do with your book announcement, other than me telling you that I’ll definitely be checking it out! Keep it up!
- Random fan
PL: I can’t not write. It’s in my blood, as much as I wish it wasn’t. (Rotten goddamned talent to have. Why couldn’t I have thrown a 100 mph fastball or shot 10 below par on PGA courses? No, the Grand Scorer in the sky had to give me this ability… Lovely. But then, it could be worse. I get to say what I like.)
Pl-
I bought the book and enjoyed it immenensely as I told you before. I am not surprised that it is a tough sell marketing-wise and the MSM wouldn’t touch it. If you were Philly-Rock Star or even real estate developer, the media and others would lap it up and would love the tales of debauchery. But as a sober professional, it clashes with their schema. Lawyers and doctors are supposed to be sober, boring, uptight, dweebs. And most are just that, insufferable bores and mental cases.
People like you and me are enigmas, those who partied unceasingly (although from what I can tell you are more charmed than me, I never had much luck with the ladies–not that I tried much–and from time to time got arrested for various drunken offenses) are just not supposed to be able to do well in white collar world. To top it off, we see through the charades and treat the whole thing with contempt while still excelling at it and pulling down 200,000+ a year.
So my advice, which is what it looks like you are doing on the blog, is do the cold, realistic analysis that is the scam of law and probably most other white collar professions and debunk it as the shitty professions it is. You do this BETTER than anyone I have ever read. The more young folks who turn away and avoid the golden handcuffs and go on to do something that truly makes them happy and is productive for society, the better. Indeed, it is the only hope for this increasingly hopeless society.
PL: I’ve done law. Done in the front, the back… Come on its face, in its ear… What other degradation can I lay on the field? What more can anyone do to insult it? It has no respect in our culture, no prestige even among professionals and is roundly, universally considered something you do when you had nothing better to do… Among careers, it’s an eyesore. Hell, even Antonin Scalia recently said it’s a waste of talent. And to top it all off, now the filed is collapsing. Wages are dropping, people are being laid off in droves and the future trajectory of the thing is a long skid to a basement of $150 per hour billing and brutal flat rate assignments. It’s afternoon in American for many professions, but for law, it’s 11:30. And the hanging’s at dawn.
I’m just happy to have had a nice pedestal from which to giggle as the thing unfolded.
Well it looks like I’ve sold a couple copies from my little promo for ya.
Is there more Spirit of the stairs story coming?
PL: Yes. And thank you. You did, and then some.
That’s a gorgeous cover Phila. Made me think of a contemporary Mad Men. Happy trails on your way to the small screen with this.
- Ebner
PL: Thanks, dude. The guy who did that cover gets a free drink when I’m in the City meeting with the publisher next. My editor also deserves some credit. The idea was partly his.
Hopefully, this time around, the TV deal can get done. I keep the fingers crossed.
Like Jake, I too was lucky enough to get my hands on a galley of the book and it really is awesome, better than any mass marketed edition could be. I’ve loaned it out to at least 5 friends and it comes back to me with a little more character (and rave reviews) each time.
Regardless, I’m going out to buy the softcover just to add what I can to your bottom line. It’s the least I can do for the past few years of entertainment.
PL: You don’t have to do that. It’s enough that you’ve read it and suggested it. My concept on the book remains the same – it’s a cult thing, for people who “get it.” I’m guessing that group’s going to get a lot bigger as our country’s fixations are compelled to change in The New Reality we’re facing. But I don’t expect that book to get any mainstream press. It pisses on too many accepted narratives and scratches a lot of sores people don’t want to touch.
I just want it to move around to those who understand it, to create a small, continuous shock of recognition among those who’ve harbored the sentiments it puts forth, but never articulated them to one another. There is no doubt, the book works like an inside handshake. You probably wouldn’t want your boss to see you reading it.