Publishers Weekly
05/31/2021
Comedian and television writer Scharpling careens with reckless abandon around the curves life has thrown him in his sidesplitting debut. Bouncing around in time, he skims over prank-calling his high school bullies’ parents as a freshman and cuts to the depression that led to electroconvulsive treatments for most of his senior year. Listening to the radio became an escape, and in college in the mid-1990s, he turned his passion into a gig as a DJ for Jersey City radio station WFMU: “When I talked into that mic and said whatever I was thinking, the universe literally handed me my voice.” In a serendipitous moment, he met Jon Wurster, from the rock band Superchunk, and the two created a comic call-in music show that would eventually become The Best Show on WFMU in 2000. Jonesing to become a “Professional Funny Person,” he soon began writing for the TV show Monk and for movies such as Grown Ups 3. All jokes aside, Scharpling uses his struggles to offer poignant life lessons, dropping in thoughtful reflections about the importance of putting ideas into action and overcoming shame (“set it down and move forward”). Readers will laugh, cry, and laugh some more as they cheer on this story of persistence and triumph. Agent: Christopher Hermelin, Fischer-Harbage. (July)
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Hilarious, touching, and serpentine…”
The A.V. Club
Scharpling is a natural storyteller, with an eye for absurd minutiae, and he brings those talents to bear in the written word just as easily as he does on the radio.
New York Times bestselling author of Silver Screen Fiend - Patton Oswalt
It Never Ends, unfortunately, does. But BEFORE it does, it’s a funny, angry, sensitive saga about an outsider who rose above it all without ever losing his touch for the everyday, the poetic, and the misfit music of reality. This is a VERY specific story that will appeal to everyone.
The Chicago Review of Books
In his brilliant memoir It Never Ends, Tom places his story of breaking into comedy — hilarious as you’d expect — within a larger story of growing up in serious emotional turmoil.
musician - Kurt Vile
It’ll break your heart in the best way.
New York Times bestselling author and the creator of the Emmy Award-winning show Steven Universe - Rebecca Sugar
"I have always been in awe of Tom’s comedy, which is somehow simultaneously aggressive and kind, defeated and resilient, farcical and totally sincere. With this book, I finally understand how Tom can, and must, be all of these things at once. It Never Ends is moving, hilarious, honest, and inspiring!"
stand-up comedian, actor, author, and host of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron - Marc Maron
"Tom Scharpling and I are friends. I thought I knew him pretty well. Then I read this book. Turns out, I didn't know him at all, really. He's deeper, darker, smarter, wiser, and much funnier than I knew. It Never Ends is hilarious and harrowing. I laughed a lot. I cried a bit. I even laughed/cried a few times."
Pitchfork
“The book’s darkness and jokes work hand in hand…When Scharpling writes about his resilience and work ethic, it’s legitimately inspiring.
Stereogum
The kind of book that makes it known just why Scharpling has so many diehard fans, and why he deserves more of them…
Bandcamp Daily
It Never Ends is, to put it as frankly as possible, as good as memoir gets. It is open, honest, and thoughtful, tempering the bleakness of a battle with foundational depression and suicidality with genuinely funny anecdotes and observations that feel just as insightful.”
Emmy Award-winning creator and host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - John Oliver
This book is unflinchingly honest, deeply affecting and just relentlessly funny. If you read it and don’t like it, it’s 100% your fault.
PASTE Magazine
On the page, Scharpling’s stories are hilarious, heartbreaking, embarrassing, and, above all, honest—everything that makes memoirs as difficult to write as they are worth reading.
Rolling Stone
In Scharpling’s excellent new memoir, It Never Ends, the comedian opens up like never before. Scharpling… spins tales both bitingly perceptive and full of heart.”
Vulture
The memoir of Tom Scharpling, the choleric but tenderhearted radio host of WFMU’s cult comedy The Best Show, is as funny as you would expect…”
From the Publisher
This book is unflinchingly honest, deeply affecting and just relentlessly funny. If you read it and don’t like it, it’s 100% your fault.”—John Oliver, Emmy Award-winning creator and host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
"I have always been in awe of Tom’s comedy, which is somehow simultaneously aggressive and kind, defeated and resilient, farcical and totally sincere. With this book, I finally understand how Tom can, and must, be all of these things at once. It Never Ends is moving, hilarious, honest, and inspiring!"—Rebecca Sugar, New York Times bestselling author and the creator of the Emmy Award-winning show Steven Universe
“It Never Ends, unfortunately, does. But BEFORE it does, it’s a funny, angry, sensitive saga about an outsider who rose above it all without ever losing his touch for the everyday, the poetic, and the misfit music of reality. This is a VERY specific story that will appeal to everyone.”—Patton Oswalt, New York Times bestselling author of Silver Screen Fiend
"Tom Scharpling and I are friends. I thought I knew him pretty well. Then I read this book. Turns out, I didn't know him at all, really. He's deeper, darker, smarter, wiser, and much funnier than I knew. It Never Ends is hilarious and harrowing. I laughed a lot. I cried a bit. I even laughed/cried a few times."—Marc Maron, stand-up comedian, actor, author, and host of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron
“It’ll break your heart in the best way.”—Kurt Vile, musician
“Comedian and television writer Scharpling careens with reckless abandon around the curves life has thrown him in his sidesplitting debut…Readers will laugh, cry, and laugh some more as they cheer on this story of persistence and triumph.”—Publishers Weekly
“The book’s darkness and jokes work hand in hand…When Scharpling writes about his resilience and work ethic, it’s legitimately inspiring.”—Pitchfork
“Hilarious, touching, and serpentine…”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“In Scharpling’s excellent new memoir, It Never Ends, the comedian opens up like never before. Scharpling… spins tales both bitingly perceptive and full of heart.”—Rolling Stone
“The memoir of Tom Scharpling, the choleric but tenderhearted radio host of WFMU’s cult comedy The Best Show, is as funny as you would expect…” —Vulture
“In his brilliant memoir It Never Ends, Tom places his story of breaking into comedy — hilarious as you’d expect — within a larger story of growing up in serious emotional turmoil.”—The Chicago Review of Books
“On the page, Scharpling’s stories are hilarious, heartbreaking, embarrassing, and, above all, honest—everything that makes memoirs as difficult to write as they are worth reading.” —PASTE Magazine
“Scharpling is a natural storyteller, with an eye for absurd minutiae, and he brings those talents to bear in the written word just as easily as he does on the radio.”—The A.V. Club
“The kind of book that makes it known just why Scharpling has so many diehard fans, and why he deserves more of them…”—Stereogum
“[Scharpling] proves himself an able storyteller with his debut memoir, a collection of stories that include a summer spent in a Jersey Shore arcade and a bizarre Papa Roach promotional basketball game…A radio deejay should be loud and opinionated, and Scharpling doesn’t disappoint.”—Library Journal
“It Never Ends is, to put it as frankly as possible, as good as memoir gets. It is open, honest, and thoughtful, tempering the bleakness of a battle with foundational depression and suicidality with genuinely funny anecdotes and observations that feel just as insightful.”—Bandcamp Daily
Library Journal
06/18/2021
Scharpling acknowledges that he's not a household name, but readers who can't place the name may still have encountered his work. While he's most notably the longtime host of the radio/webcast series The Best Show with Tom Scharpling, he also wrote for Monk during its entire eight-season run and appeared in sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He proves himself an able storyteller with his debut memoir, a collection of stories that include a summer spent in a Jersey Shore arcade and a bizarre Papa Roach promotional basketball game. He also offers a poignant account of his struggle with mental illness; he was institutionalized and underwent electroconvulsive therapy as a high school student. VERDICT A radio deejay should be loud and opinionated, and Scharpling doesn't disappoint. Though the book will appeal mostly to his fanbase (who will learn that Scharpling isn't his real name), his stories are accessible to a wider audience. Be warned, though: He has little use for conservatives, Billy Joel, or the pizza in Toronto.—Terry Bosky, Madison, WI
