But how easy is it to embrace a life you've been convinced you’d never have? And what if your life doesn't seem all it was cracked up to be when it was nearly taken away? Handler’s response was to chronicle a journey toward love and gratitude that's by turns heartfelt, shocking and very funny. Structured as a collection of linked autobiographical essays, It’s Only Temporary is a startlingly candid and often hilarious portrait of one man's struggle to locate and embrace love and happiness within a life he knows he’s lucky just to have. It’s both a deeply personal memoir and a wide-ranging meditation on life, love, faith, gratitude, and mortality.

It's Only Temporary is an unexpected coming-of-age story in which one man comes to accept the concept of mortality only after the most strenuous objections. In finally doing so, he discovers a life much richer than he ever hoped for.

“In It's Only Temporary, Evan Handler confronts the ambiguities of life backward, forward, and in between. With hilarious honesty he reflects on the realization that we can start over again. It's Only Temporary is a heartfelt book for all of us who are getting younger and older at the same time.”
—Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and The Kitchen God’s Wife

“In a series of wonderful essays, Evan Handler gives himself up to us - warts and all. To our amusement and bemusement we share in his emotional growth as he struggles to mature. I not only laughed along with him but felt that I too had grown a little along the way. Who could ask for more?”
—Lewis Black, comedian, Daily Show correspondent, and author of Nothing's Sacred

“Evan Handler's new book is simply wonderful. He pulls you inside his life, and you come out his very close friend.”
—Neil Simon, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright/screenwriter of Lost In Yonkers, The Odd Couple, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and The Goodbye Girl

“Evan Handler is a man who’s looked into the abyss and laughed. His book, It’s Only Temporary, made me laugh along with him. He covers love, lust, showbiz, triumph, and despair – and he manages to be both funny and inspiring about all of it. It’s an important book that I think can help to spread goodness around the world. Something we desperately need.”
—Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour de France Champion; Founder, The Lance Armstrong Foundation

“Evan Handler is not only a fine actor, he’s a damn good writer. It’s Only Temporary is wise and funny and as righteously indignant as it is endearingly self-effacing. In what may be a literary first, the book actually left me wanting more.”
—Meghan Daum, author of My Misspent Youth and The Quality of Life Report

“Evan Handler's unsparingly honest stories about life, love, and his own shortcomings are hilarious to read and oh, so easy (and fun!) to relate to. By the end you will be left with the surprising but unmistakable feelings of hope and redemption. It’s Only Temporary is truly an inspiration, particularly for anyone who's out there looking for love.”
—Liz Tuccillo, co-author of He’s Just Not That Into You

“Change is good - that’s the credo Evan Handler reinvigorates with the hard won wisdom of this hard luck story. Handler’s prose style is disarmingly funny and smoothly conversational. He writes like a guy who's just happy to be here, and a little pissed off at you if you're not. As he has worked hard to shape himself into a good actor, life has shaped him into a good man. The cover photo is worth the price alone.”
—David Duchovny, actor, director, screenwriter

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