Everything Hurts

by: Bill Scheft

Published by: Simon and Schuster

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

Everything Hurts starts out as one book–and finishes as a very different one. That is quite appropriate for a book about a man who accidentally writes a best seller in order to settle the divorce with his wife. The public loves his book in spite of the fact that it was never meant to be serious. When the actual story starts, Phil has been writing a column. Though it follows the same tongue-and-cheek self-help line as the book, people are still taking him seriously.

Unfortunately eight years later, Phil is suffering from chronic pain, and can barely leave his apartment. He does all his writing lying on his back on an old wrestling mat. The girl next door types up his work and sends it in.

While waiting for surgery on his back, he is given a book that changes his life because of the promise of freeing him from pain. The Power of Ow! and Dr. Samuel Abrun change the way he sees the world. Yet life and pain are more complicated than can be explained in one book, and Phil finds himself on a journey to a very different end than just being free of pain.

In Phil Camp, Bill Scheft gives us a character who is hard to love, and hard not to like. The first part of the book is all about Phil, his pain, and his collapsing life. It is filled with one liners and bitter humor about what made him the way he is. Somewhere in the middle of the book he looks up from his own sorry life–and the story changes.

Suddenly I was reading about the person behind the rants and the quips. This person is much more vulnerable and lovable. As this new character struggles through the realities of his life, the book finds its voice and arrives at a conclusion that is as satisfying as it is quirky.

Armchair Interviews says: Author Scheft knows how to create strong characters that stay in your head long after you finish the book.

Author’s Web site: http://www.BillScheft.com