Product Description

MEMOIR

It all began one typical day in the life of Joe Heller. He was jogging four miles at a clip these days, working on his novel God Knows, coping with the complications of an unpleasant divorce, and pigging out once or twice a week on Chinese food with cronies like Mel Brooks, Mario Puzo, and his buddy of more than twenty years, Speed Vogel. He was feeling perfectly fine that day -- but within twenty-four hours he would be in intensive care at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital. He would remain hospitalized for nearly six months and leave in a wheelchair.

Joseph Heller had Guillain-Barré syndrome, a debilitating, sometimes fatal condition that can leave its victims paralyzed from head to toe. The clan gathered immediately. Speed -- sometime artist, sometime businessman, sometime herring taster, and now a coauthor -- moved into Joe's apartment as messenger, servant, and shaman. Mel Brooks, arch-hypochondriac of the Western world, knew as much about Heller's condition as the doctors. Mario Puzo, author of the preeminent gangster novel of our time, proved to be the most reluctant man ever to be dragged along on a hospital visit. These and lots of others rallied around the sickbed in a show of loyalty and friendship that not only built a wild and spirited camaraderie but helped bring Joe Heller, writer and buddy extraordinaire, through his greatest crisis.

This book is an inspiring, hilarious memoir of a calamitous illness and the rocky road to recuperation -- as only the author of Catch-22 and the friend who helped him back to health could tell it. No Laughing Matter is as wacky, terrifying, and great-hearted as any fiction Joseph Heller ever wrote.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #866930 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Heller's much-admired account of his battle with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome was first published in 1986.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ingram
The bestselling author of Catch-22 teams up with Speed Vogel, his best friend, to describe his battle with and triumph over Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing disease of the nervous system. "Richly amusing . . . positively cheering."--The New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Warm, funny, scary and vivid all at the same time
NO LAUGHING MATTER is a very informative and entertaining piece of writing. Co-authored by Joseph Heller and Speed Vogel (who write alternating chapters) it details the effects of the rare debilitating affliction called Guillain-Barre syndrome. This autobiographical/biographical chronicle passes along a lot of information without once falling into obscure medical dullness.

Guillain-Barre is a disease that attacks the central nervous system, rendering the victim completely paralyzed. Although what Heller contracted was a mild form of the disorder, in an extreme case mentioned a patient was only able to move their eyes. Recovery is possible from this disease; if it's caught early enough, the patient can be hooked up to a respirator if need be and then slowly rehabilitated. NO LAUGHING MATTER is two stories. The first is that of Joseph Heller the patient who goes from being in (seemingly) perfect health to being utterly bedridden in a matter of days. The second part of the tale is told by Speed Vogel, a friend of Heller, who took care of virtually all of his financial, legal and personal obligations.

From reading some other reviews of the book, one might be under the impression that this is a light and fluffy feel-good story of friendship where one will be forced to read numerous passages on the deeper meanings of love and caring. People learning great life lessons by sacrificing much that they have purely in the name of camaraderie. Chicken soup for the soul and novocain for the brain. Fortunately, one couldn't be further from the truth. While the two authors obviously have a great fondness for each other, you won't find any obvious soliloquies on the healing power of friendship. What you will find are people who care a great deal, but aren't afraid to share a lot of good-natured abuse. While in sickness and on the road to recovery, this never feels false or sugarcoated. It's an honest account of what real friendships are made of.

Despite the title, much of the book is laugh out loud funny. Heller may have been bedridden but he didn't lose any of his trademark wit. Celebrity cameos of everyone from Dustin Hoffman to Mario Puzo to Mel Brooks help to liven up an already interesting narrative. Both authors have a warm and engaging style of writing that makes even the more incomprehensible medical jargon understandable. The jokes are great and serve also to counterpoint the feelings of desperation and of loneliness.

The book is extremely intriguing, though there are one or two sections that don't quite work. Heller was going through what appeared to be a fairly messy divorce and the legal proceedings got a little bit complicated. For a section, Heller even reproduces a few pages of the court transcripts in order to show his lawyer in the right. As justified as he may be in including these segments, they aren't nearly as interesting as the rest of the book and pale in comparison.

NO LAUGHING MATTER shows us illness from two viewpoints. From Vogel we see the outward appearance of the disease and its effect on Heller. From Heller we experience the sickness firsthand. It's a fascinating dual look at the nature of the affliction. Well worth a read.

No Laughing Matter
NO LAUGHING MATTER has some great moments. In places Joseph Heller demonstrated his ability to be funny and touching at the same time. The book was a great inspiration to me at a time when I needed the help it gave me. As the author of SOLOMON'S PORCH, a novel about a man with CIDP, the slow version of Guillain Barre', I was fascinated with this book about Joe Heller and his caretakers. Most of the material that I have read about GBS and CIDP focuses almost exclusively on the patient, but Mr. Heller wrote every other chapter of this book and had his friend, who became one of his caretakers, write the alternate chapters. At the time I read NO LAUGHING MATTER, I was beginning to formulate SOLOMON'S PORCH in my mind. NLM gave me some good ideas about structure.

No Laughing Matter... Info for Guillian Barre victims
Joseph Heller relates his terrifying experience with the disease Guillian Barre Syndrome, a debilitating, but rare disease affecting the peripheral nervous system. Any medical practitioner, nurse, or victims relatives should make this book required reading so as to appreciate the symptoms and effects of the disease, as well as to understand the recovery period and what's involved with it. Although Mr. Heller had a severe reaction, most victims experience a lesser effect and recover more quickly. The book is highly recommended from a victim of the disease.