Everything Harder Than Everyone Else
Why Some of Us Push Ourselves to Extremes
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
A no-holds-barred, gonzo dive into the world of extreme behavior; from abstinence to ego, punishment to curiosity, obsession to reinvention, acclaimed journalist Jenny Valentish uncovers what drives those who push the limits of endurance.
What do extreme eaters, MMA fighters, ultra-marathon runners, and BDSM practitioners have in common? What drives some people to push their bodies and minds to the brink, putting everything on the line to test the bounds of their capacity? When Jenny Valentish worked through her own addictions, she became fascinated by extremes in their myriad and unexpected manifestations. In the darkly funny, brash, and irresistible Everything Harder Than Everyone Else, Valentish immerses herself in the lives of sex workers, body builders, and dedicated fighters and finds that many of the people she encounters have overcome addictions and trauma to find release and community where the stakes are at their highest.
Harnessing a journalistic approach that’s equal parts brazenly curious and remarkably compassionate, Valentish finds herself neck-deep in her own investigation, embroiling herself in the world of competitive Muay Thai fighting and in the dark chambers of a BDSM dungeon. At every turn she stares unflinchingly into the darker corners of culture that polite society ignores and repudiates, asking readers and herself, how far are you willing to go?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Valentish (Woman of Substances) profiles people "willing to do the sorts of things that most others couldn't, shouldn't, or wouldn't" in this colorful, squirm-inducing account. Searching for the psychological drive that compels ultramarathoners to run until their feet bleed, suspension artists to hang from hooks driven through their flesh, and women and men to perform "gonzo porn," Valentish comes up with a variety of answers. To extreme eater Jack Allocca, who has tasted human flesh and ingested delirium-inducing plants, overriding the disgust response is a means of testing one's "mental mettle." Ultrarunner Charlie Engle runs thousands of miles in extreme weather conditions to help overcome his former addiction to alcohol and drugs. Bodybuilder Kortney Olson seeks power and control to counter the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Hardcore wrestler KrackerJak, who has a brain injury from being repeatedly hit over the head with a DVD player, might be "thrashing out complicated internal issues in the crudest of external ways." Valentish gets "flogged" at a fetish dungeon in Melbourne and draws on her own experiences training as a Muay Thai fighter to relate to her subjects, and writes about the psychology and physiology of extreme experiences with nuance and sensitivity. The result is an eye-opening tour of the human psyche.
