Quitting the Nairobi Trio: A Memoir

A columnist for the New York Press, Knipfel is a survivor. Already legally blind, he is cursed with a degenerative disease, retinus pigmentosa, which is slowly robbing him of even more of his sight. In his acclaimed first memoir, Slackjaw, Knipfel chronicled his battle not only with that disability, but with an inoperable brain lesion that has resulted in seizures and incidents of severe, suicidal depression. With his latest book, he continues to document the ongoing emotional woes in his splintered life in heartrending detail. As it opens, he is strapped to a bed in the intensive care unit of Minneapolis General Medical Center after yet another suicide attempt. Knipfel remains very capable of cool objectivity about his circumstances, maintaining a droll sense of humor. While languishing in the ""bughouse,"" he recalls the voices and feelings that drove him to drink, pills and general madness. Although he has lost the ability to read faces, his powers of observation are razor sharp, as is his uncanny ability to transform the most mundane situationDsuch as his scuba-diving classes, his battle with a rat on the ward or a near-riot among patientsDinto a laugh-out-loud episode. Inspired by the late comic Ernie Kovacs's Nairobi Trio skits and the mad rantings of fellow roomies, he concocts a scheme to win his release, only to watch it fall apart in another crazy fiasco. Knipfel's wickedly hilarious and nutty viewpoint is so captivating that readers will finish his book with regret, waiting impatiently for the next installment of a unique, courageous life. Agent, Ken Swezey at Cowen, DeBates Esq. First serial to Talk magazine; national radio campaign. (June)