Michael Ian Black

“You’re not doing it right.” Michael Ian Black has been hearing these five words all his life. And now—on the eve of his fortieth birthday—he is finally beginning to wonder why. . . . As a husband and father living in the suburbs, Michael asks the question so many of us ask ourselves at one point or another: How did I end up here? (And also: If Fat Kevin Federline succumbs to his own wasted potential, what does that mean for the rest of us?) The answers to these questions, and others that you probably would have never thought to ask, are painstakingly detailed in You’re Not Doing It Right, Michael Ian Black’s debut memoir. Darkly humorous and told with raw honesty, Michael takes on his childhood, his marriage, his children, and his career with unexpected candor and deadpan wit in this funny-because-it’s-true essay collection. He shares the neuroses that have plagued him since childhood and how they shaped him into the man he is today. Stories include: How his lesbian feminist mother raised him to be a tough but sensitive New Seventies Man like Alan Alda; how his camp girlfriend dumped him for a guy nicknamed Taco; how he backed into marrying his wife by breaking up with her first; how he is completely undone by hearing a Creed song on the radio on the eve of becoming a father; and how he learned to use Santa Claus as a “Bad Cop” threat to control his kids year round. From the comedian who brought you Stella and The State, Michael Ian Black says the kinds of things you’re afraid to admit. Here he is: naked, exposed, a little chilly, and understandably shriveled.

Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations

You're Not Doing It Right

When a medical diagnosis forces him to realize he's not getting any younger, Black reexamines his life as a middle-aged guy-- in the deadpan wit and self-deprecating vignettes that have become trademarks of his humor.

True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but Also My Mom’s, which I Know Sounds Weird)

Navel Gazing

Comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host Michael Ian Black’s look at boyhood in the form of a heartfelt letter to his teenage son before he leaves for college, and a radical plea for rethinking masculinity and teaching young men to give and receive love, written in response to rising gun violence and building off his New York Times op-ed, “The Boys Are Not All Right.”

A Letter to My Son

A Better Man

Debbie Ridpath Ohi

When a bored girl meets a potato who finds children tedius, she tries to prove him wrong by demonstrating all of the things they can do, from turning cartwheels to using their imaginations.

I'm Bored

A volume of irreverent essays by the comedian from The State and Stella considers such topics as why salami is the world's greatest lunch meat and what Billy Joel would be thinking on his way to a party where there would be a piano.

And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face

My Custom Van

Marc Rosenthal

What do you do when you spot a wild Trump in the election season? New York Times bestselling author and comedian Michael Ian Black has some sage advice for children (and all the rest of us who are scratching our heads in disbelief) in this perfectly timely parody picture book intended for adults that would be hysterical if it wasn’t so true. The beasty is called an American Trump. Its skin is bright orange, its figure is plump. Its fur so complex you might get enveloped. Its hands though are, sadly, underdeveloped. The Trump is a curious creature, very often spotted in the wild, but confounding to our youngest citizens. A business mogul, reality TV host, and now…political candidate? Kids (and let’s be honest many adults) might have difficulty discerning just what this thing that’s been dominating news coverage this election cycle is. Could he actually be real? Are those…words coming out of his mouth? Why are his hands so tiny? And perhaps most importantly, what on earth do you do when you encounter an American Trump? With his signature wit and a classic picture book style, comedian Michael Ian Black introduces those unfamiliar with the Americus Trumpus to his distinguishing features and his mystifying campaign for world domination…sorry…President of the United States.

A Child's First Book of Trump

A girl, a flamingo, and a worried potato star in the third book in New York Times bestselling author Michael Ian Black and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s series about feelings—and why they’re good, even when they feel bad. Potato is worried. About everything. Because anything might happen. When he tells his friends, he expects them to comfort him by saying that everything will be okay. Except they don’t. Because it might not be, and that’s okay too. Still, there’s one thing they can promise for sure: no matter what happens…they will always be by his side.

I'm Worried

A girl, a potato, and a very sad flamingo star in this charming sequel to I’m Bored by New York Times bestselling author and comedian Michael Ian Black and celebrated illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Everyone feels sad sometimes—even flamingos. Sigh. When Flamingo announces he’s feeling down, the little girl and Potato try to cheer him up, but nothing seems to work. Not even dirt! (Which usually works for Potato.) Flamingo learns that he will not always feel this way. And his friends learn that sometimes being a friend means you don’t have to cheer someone up. You just have to stick by your pal no matter how they feel. Even if they’re a potato.

I'm Sad

Meghan McCain

Conservative author Meghan McCain and acerbic liberal comedian Michael Ian Black hit the road together to find the soul of a divided America.

A Love Letter to Freedom

America, You Sexy Bitch

A child discovers that the only thing more fun than being naked is wearing nothing but a cape.

Naked!

Being naked is great. Running around, sliding down the stairs, eating cookies… The only thing better than naked? Caped! Being caped is awesome. Flying through the air, fighting evil doers. But eating cookies mostly naked (but also caped)...that is exhausting. Join a little boy on his hilarious run around the house...in the buff!

Who Needs Pants?

Could anything possibly be more fun than a pig parade!? You wouldn't think so. But you'd be wrong. A pig parade is a terrible idea. Pigs hate to march, refuse to wear the uniforms, don't care about floats, and insist on playing country music ballads. Those are just some of the reasons. And trust me, this hysterical book has plenty more!

A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea

I'm Sorry

A girl, a flamingo, and a worried potato star in the third book in New York Times bestselling author Michael Ian Black and celebrated illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s series about feelings—and why they’re good, even when they feel bad. Potato is worried. About everything. Because anything might happen. When he tells his friends, he expects them to comfort him by saying that everything will be okay. Except they don’t. Because it might not be, and that’s okay too. Still, there’s one thing they can promise for sure: no matter what happens…they will always be by his side.

"When Mel the rooster gets tired of his boring old cock-a-doodle-doo he decides to shake things up with something brand new--the cock-a-doodle-doo-bop! But not everyone on the barnyard is a fan of the new tune"--

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bop!

She is a single, twentysomething, gun-loving, Christian, Republican writer and blogger, the daughter of a Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee. He is a married, forty-year-old, gun-fearing, atheist, Democrat comedian, the son of a lesbian former Social Security employee. Meghan McCain and Michael Ian Black barely know each other. But they are about to change the way politics is discussed in America. Or at least the way politics are discussed in their crappy RV. In America, You Sexy Bitch, Meghan and Michael embark on a balls-out, cross-country tour starting in California, the heart of liberal America, and ending in the state of Connecticut, the home of blue-blood Wall Street billionaires. Along the way, they visit such cultural touchstones as Graceland and Branson, party in Las Vegas and New Orleans, pretend to be Mormon in Salt Lake City (only for a second), and go to a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan. They tour the nation’s capital; they fire semiautomatic weapons. But mostly Meghan McCain and Michael Ian Black talk to each other: about their differences, their similarities, and how American politics has gotten so divided.

In this fourth book in the series from New York Times bestselling author Michael Ian Black and celebrated illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a flamingo and a very sorry potato learn how to mend hurt feelings. Flamingo is upset. Very upset. Potato is sorry. Very sorry. In fact, he is the sorriest. But he doesn’t know how to tell Flamingo. He would rather run away to the South Pole and live with penguins. He’d rather wear a disguise for the rest of time. But will that be enough to fix their friendship? Will they ever go back to being a girl, a potato, and a flamingo again?

Peter Brown

After asking the reader to think of something spectacular, the narrator sets out to prove his ability to read minds by describing a preposterous situation and characters.

Michael Ian Black

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