Four Days and a Year Later

He endured every parent's worst nightmare.

When writer-comedian Barry Friedman's son died from a drug overdose one Friday morning, Barry was devastated--but not surprised. Paul's death had been in dress rehearsal for years. The world alternately froze and galloped after Paul was found face-down in his room. Barry had to find a way to continue, to reject magical thinking and forge a meaningful path for the future. During the following four days, Barry dealt not only with his crushing grief but also incidents ranging from the ridiculous to the profound. What follows is not a eulogy but an elegy for the son he loved but knew he would lose. Barry writes with passion and pain about how to survive the worst life has to offer--and go on living.

"It's a wonderful book. This is a haunting, achingly honest account of an experience every parent fears more than any other--the death of a child. Barry Friedman is a superb writer; this compelling, compulsively readable book will stay with you long after you finish it." --Dave Barry, Pulitzer-Prize winning writer"Told in sharp shards and jagged pieces that create a riveting and inevitable narrative flow, Four Days and a Year Later is brief, powerful, despairing, and yet ultimately, a hopeful expression of what it means to be human." --William Martin, NYTimes-bestselling author of The Lincoln Letter

A comedian, born in New York, Barry started performing comedy in Tulsa, concluding that while Manhattan was the place to be discovered, Oklahoma had more parking. He has been a regular at club in Las Vegas, Reno, as well as NYC, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Houston, San Antonio, on cruise ships, The Bahamas, and once in a bar in Bartlesville, Oklahoma that advertised 'Comedian and Beer.' Further, Barry has appeared in national commercials, like the one for Mazzio's, where he is lying upside down, barking at a pizza, and movies, like UHF with "Weird Al" Yankovic, which still provides him with $3.76 residual checks every time it plays at some Lithuanian drive-in. In May of 2002, Barry's first book, ROAD COMIC was released. An autobiographical look at his life on the comedy circuit, it was a raw, funny, pathetic, relentless account of comedy, comedians, sex, passion, suicidal Germans, pierced cocktail waitresses, disappointment, and receding hairlines. In his second book, FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION IT, released in 2005, Barry continued to explore the cultural zeitgeist of life, love, and humor, but also mused about gun shows, Baptists, old Jews, and Winnie Cooper. Barry has co-hosted "The Politics Blog with Charles P. Pierce" ESQUIRE.com (Charles P. Pierce calls him "Friedman of the Plains"); does commentary on PUBLIC RADIO TULSA; writes a monthly column for Tulsa Voice; contributes to MEDIA POST; and reports for EXPLORER, an oil and gas journal, which is odd for Barry knows nothing about the oil and exploration business and has been known to hurt himself pumping his own gas. Barry's latest book FOUR DAYS AND A YEAR LATER has just been released. You can find out more about Barry at www.barrysfriedman.com or www.friedmanoftheplains.com