Jon Winokur

Encyclopedia Neurotica Jon Winokur

We live in an Age of Anxiety. The events of modern life have overwhelmed the average homo sapiens until getting from Point A to Point B without being overcome by neuroses is a practical impossibility. Enter: the comic safety valve. Encyclopedia Neurotica is a delightful garden of the ills that beset modern man. Entries include excerpts from both popular and arcane published works, as well as original definitions, essential terms and the occasional cutting-edge concept, such as "celebriphilia, the pathological desire to sleep with a celebrity, suffered chiefly by groupies."
Some samples from Encyclopedia Neurotica:
--Abyss, the: the yawning unfathomable chasm of existential terror
--Acquired Situational Narcissism: a condition characterized by gradiosity, lack of empathy, rage, isolation and substance abuse; mainly afflicts celebrities, who tend to be surrounded by enablers
--Denial: unconscious defense mechanism that numbs anxiety by refusing to acknoweledge unpleasant realities
--Manic Run: prolonged state of optimism, excitement and hyperactivity experienced as part of bipolar disorder