No Job for a Man: A Memoir

(Hardback)

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A darkly witty, deeply affecting, and finely crafted memoir bytheBig Bang TheoryandSpeechlessstar and comedian, John Ross Bowie.

From his earliest memories of watchingRhodawith his parents in their tiny Hells Kitchen apartment, John knew that he wantedto be an actor. The strange, alternate world of televisionwhere people always cracked the perfect joke, lived in glamorous Upper East Side buildings, and made up immediately after fightingseemedfar better than his own home life, with parents on the brink of divorce and a neighborhood full of crumbling pre-war architecture and not-so-occasional muggings. That other world also seemed so unattainable. Besides crippling stage fright (whichwould take himyears to overcome) John'sfather, ever aloof and cynical, has instilled within himthe notion that acting is no job for a man.

His father would impart that while theater, film, and television should be consumedand even debated, to create was no way to make a living or support a family. Putting aside his acting dreams, John stumbles through his twenties. He tries his hand at teaching and othertraditional occupations, but nothingfeels nearly as fulfilling as playing with his fleetingly on-the-map punk band, Egghead.

When the band breaks up, John lands a joyless job copywriting for a consulting firm and slips into a dark depression. He loses weight, begins drinking heavily, and his relationships flounder.

But everything changes when John discovers improv (and anti-depressants). As an early student ofNew Yorks now-famous Upright Citizens Brigade, John not only explores his passion for acting and comedyand begins to envision himself doing so professionallyhe also finds a community and a unique stability in instability.

No Job for a Manfollows Johns journey as he tries to make it in the arts, meeting success and failure, wins and losses, despair and hope along the way. Though his father chronically refuses to acknowledge pride in his adult sons accomplishments, John comes to his own idiosyncratic version of being a man.

Reviews

"Bowie writes in a style that is both comfortably earnest and humorous about his time as a college DJ, a high-school English teacher, and leader of his own punk band, Egghead. He also writes candidly of dealing with depression, and its clear that by the time he joins the Upright Citizens Brigade, that there is nothing he takes for granted. Bowies hard-won success on television is truly only a small part of his story. Like the punk bands Bowie idolized as a teenager, his voice rings true in a crowded genre." * Library Journal *
A smart, pithy memoir with an earnest emotional arc.The recurring contrastbleak and grotesque collide with redeeming beautykeeps Bowies free-flowing narrative grounded. Bowie employs a light touch while recounting love and family relationships that spark and fade through choice conversational snippets and anecdotes, culminating in a poignant climactic encounter with his brusque father.No Job For a Manis like a worn-in band T-shirt at a wrap party: sardonic yet soft. * Publishers Weekly *
For how personal this memoir is, it inadvertently serves as a life guide to any aspiring actor. -- Rachel Bloom,Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,and author ofI Want To Be Where the Normal People Are
"While youve long known John Ross Bowie as 'that guy from that thing,' get ready to know him as a thoughtful raconteur whose stories beautifully blend heartfelt contemplation on masculinity, generational shifts, forgiveness, and the way that the arts can save wandering souls." -- Chris Gethard, Beautiful/Anonymous,HBOs Career Suicide
No Job For A Man is the kind of personal journey I want to read about. Filled with fascinating stories beginning with John Ross Bowie growing up in Manhattan in an environment of theatre, TV comedy, and music. His relationship with his father is complicated, and is beyond just simple generational resentment. There are expectations and disappointment, but at the same time, a lot of love and understanding. The way John sees his life is endlessly entertaining. It was not always easy, and now I see what is behind his wonderful performances and his love of punk music. -- Fred Armisen, Saturday Night Live, Portlandia, and Trenchmouth.
"Bowie knows how to set a scene, knows how to hook readers with sensory detail before packing a punch with honest, self-reflective (and occasionally self-depreciating) writinga page-turner for sure, all delivered with a sardonic wit and peppered with Easter eggs for aging punk nerds like me." * Razorcake *
"John has seemingly lived ten thousand lives. He was a kid that got mugged in New York City. He was in a punk band. He was a teacher.And he ultimately became an actor in one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. He manages to tell each life story with a perfect balance of introspective wisdom and laugh-out-loud humor. Reading this book feels like sitting down with a friend and having one of those long chats that spellbind you til you realize its six hours later and you should move your car so you can listen for another six hours. -- Broti Gupta, writer, The Simpsons, The New Yorker
"John Ross Bowie's moving, humane, and funny memoir is ultimately about how we determine who we are. It's a lot like the characters I've seen John play on screen: relatable guys who have seen some shit and are trying to figure shit out. He goes on a mission, a personal odyssey really, to figure out if he's a DJ, a teacher, a corporate cog, a rock star, or a Hollywood actor and he poignantly shares the many losses and huge wins that go along with that effort. I loved traveling with John as he made that journey, gathering wisdom and sometimes hard lessons from his unique parents, the murky New York City of his youth, and relationships both doomed and fruitful." -- John Moe, author of The Hilarious World of Depression

Author Bio

John Ross Bowieis perhaps best known for playing recurring villain and fan favorite Barry Kripke on the international hit television showThe Big Bang Theory. He also recently co-starred as Minnie Drivers husband, Jimmy DiMeo, on ABCsSpeechless. John has been appeared on the television shows Veep, Fresh off the Boat, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brooklyn 99, CSI, andGlee, among many others, andin movies such asRoad Trip,The Heat,Hes Just Not That Into You,The Santa Clause 3,Jumanji: The Next Level, and the cult hitWhat The Bleep Do We KnowPrior to his acting career, John was a contributing writer for theNew York Pressand has since written and developed television scripts at Fox, CBS, and Amazon.He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jamie Denbo and their two children and he thinks an author bio on a memoir is a real hat-on-a-hat situation.