Relative Discomfort: The Family Survival Guide - Couverture souple

Seeing family is like catching a head cold: a temporary discomfort relieved by a snifter or four of brandy." --Jeremy Greenberg

Relative Discomfort is a sidesplitting, guffaw-inducing guide to living through and laughing at all of our family encounters. You know that knot you get in your stomach when you're about to come face-to-face with your Uncle Drunk and Aunt Enabler, or the brother-in-law who always wants to show you his gun collection? This book unties that knot.

If your family more closely resembles the Simpsons as opposed to the Tanner, Keaton, or Huxtable clans, then chances are this book is for you. International headlining comedian Jeremy Greenberg writes from the premise that although we love our families, many of us don't particularly love spending time with those who share our dysfunctional DNA.

To liven up the holidays, bar mitzvahs, funerals, and other family gatherings, Greenberg offers a collection of tips, tricks, games, and helpful hints that will not only help you survive your cousin's combination wedding/baby shower/high school graduation, but will also provide insights on how to move back into your parents' home when you're no longer a kid, or how to kick your adult-age son or daughter out of the family home if you're a parent.

Sections like Children During the Holidays (How to Have Fun at Their Expense) and Red- and Blue-Staters (What to Do When the "Two Americas" Show Up at the Same Family Reunion) provide a lighthearted look at surviving inner-family dynamics, along with a possible concrete solution or two. (Peanut butter-Valium cookies anyone?)

Jeremy Greenberg is a stand-up comedian, author, blogger, and joke writer. He has appeared on numerous national TV and radio shows, and has done five overseas tours to perform for our troops. He has also done extensive freelance work for Parenting Magazine, Twins, Glo, and MSN for whom he was also the original blogger for MSN's The Family Room, and was part of the team that helped MSN win the 2010 IMA Outstanding Achievement Award for the category of "blogs." When Jeremy is not performing or writing, he is at home in San Diego demonstrating alpha-male behavior to his twin, five-year-old sons - mostly by saying "Whatever" and leaving the room every time his wife says that he's incorrectly loaded the dishwasher.