Description:
A Southern memoir about growing up wrong, losing everything, and discovering that not everything that breaks you is bad.
Brief description: Trey Toler is a former stand-up comedian, one-time caregiver, and partnerships executive who writes about the stuff most people only admit in therapy. His debut book, Good Damage, uses humor and raw honesty to explore grief, identity, and what changes when you finally start paying attention to your own story. He lives in Atlanta with his partner, his stepchildren, and their golden retriever, Ted.
Review Quotes:
"Good Damage is a remarkable book about healing trauma with laughter and how dark humor can be the most illuminating part of us. Trey's story is unique and universal, hilarious, and insightful, inspiring, and evocative. I love!" - Margaret Cho, comedian and actress
"A candid and moving account that's buoyed by humor." - Kirkus Reviews
"Trey Toler's laugh-out-loud memoir Good Damage leans into the power of human connections." - Foreword Clarion Review
"Trey has a way of being funny about subjects that shouldn't be funny at all. How does he connect with readers on taboo subjects that we typically don't like talking about? He's unapologetically himself. He reflects on the scars of his own grief, with plenty of optimism about how we all can move past our demons-whatever they may be. Once you pick up this book, I guarantee you won't be able to put it down." - Jared Belsky, founder and CEO of Acadia and author of You Get the Agency You Deserve and The Great Client Partner
"Trey is the rare person who can make you laugh at something painful before you've even realized you're in it. Good Damage doesn't ask you to reframe your suffering - it asks something harder. Whether you've lost someone, lost yourself, or just lost the thread of who you were before everything changed, this book will find you." - Tim Andrews, radio host and producer of "The Popcast" on 955 WSB Atlanta
"Trey writes the way he performs: honest, funny, and completely fearless. He covers growing up gay in the South, an absent father, a mother's illness, and a world that handed him every reason to quit, yet somehow never lets it get too heavy to bear. By the last page, you feel everything he survived and the lightness he held onto through all of it. This one stays with you." - Marshall Chiles, comedian and owner of Whiplash Comedy