Failure

An Autobiography
Joshua Gidding

One man’s personal journey into the unexplored territory of failure.

We are taught to celebrate, even worship, success. But what about the flip side of success? What about failure? Failure is a universal experience we must go through in order to become ourselves. But we never speak of it, except perhaps as a stepping stone to success, because it terrifies us. In fact, for many of us, failure is what we fear most. And yet, we have all failed in some aspect of our lives.

Now, in this genre-bending “thematic memoir,” author Joshua Gidding breaks the silence by giving a personal account of his own failures, and especially his enduring sense of failure, which has shadowed him from childhood to the present. With a sense of humor that is often reflective, and occasionally outrageous, Gidding relates his struggles – not with any outside enemy, such as drugs, alcohol, or illness – but with the much more implacable foe that is himself.

From trying to fit in at his posh prep school, to dealing with his rejection from Harvard, to dead-end jobs in New York and Hollywood, to the resounding flop of his first novel, and culminating in the betrayal of his beloved wife after she is diagnosed with the cancer that finally killed her, Gidding describes his failures with an unflinching eye, yet all the while placing the idea of failure in a larger philosophical context. The result is a witty, provocative, and searingly honest exploration of the personal landscape of failure that will change the way you look at your own life – and your own failures.

JOSHUA GIDDING grew up in Los Angeles, and holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Southern California. He has taught at USC and Holy Cross, and currently teaches writing and literature at Dowling College on Long Island, where he lives with his son, Zachary. He has published fiction, criticism and reviews, and worked for many years (without success) in the movie business.

978-1-905736-21-8
£12.99 HB
Rights: All
Sales territory: World
May 2007