Laughing Matters: Learning to Laugh When Life Stinks

Phil Callaway is that rare writer pigeon-holed somewhere between Cormac McCarthy and Andy Rooney. He is Harpo Marx if Harpo spoke, but instead of honking the horn, Phil is touching my soul along with my funny bone. Just today I read something of his and I had the urge to squeal with delight at how "on" he was to the human condition, me laughing at someone else's foibles. Then, with the perfect twist on the humanity, he had me seeing myself. You could do a lot worse than buying this book, but I'm not sure you could do much better.

I cannot look at the cover of this book without a smile crossing my face. Laughing Matters has given me a much-needed boost and a "faith-lift"! With warm and at times hilarious stories, Callaway shows (not tells) us how joy works in our lives. He does this not from some high platform, but by sitting in the snow bank with us and putting an arm about our shoulder. Too many books look at things clinically. This is no laboratory look at laughter, this is a 5-star picture of how joy can come to life for us. I've ordered a DVD from Callaway's website and 6 copies of this book for our small group. Fabulous, life-altering material.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this book saved my life. I have suffered with depression for a long time and I'm not naive enough to think that this will be the end of it. But this book came along at the perfect time and literally saved my life. Mr. Callaway deals with 5 things we need to do to "Bring joy to life" and I found myself not only nodding in agreement as I read, I was asking, why didn't I think of that? I will be ordering copies for friends and family this Christmas.

I have just finished this book for the third time in less than two weeks. It sits atop my nightstand and I haven't had enough sleep because I've been reading the darn thing so much. I think that Callaway's perspective on life should be bottled and sold by telemarketers and the world would be a better place. The book tells us how to "learn to laugh when life stinks." And that's exactly what it does. I won't recount how awful the last year of my life has been, but this book has, I believe, literally saved my life. Callaway tells his own story of his wife's health troubles, of a deadly disease in his family, and of the challenges of life and death. He does so in such a warm and witty way that you can't stop reading. I thank God for the gift of this book.