Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors (33 page)

EVAN HANDLER is an actor, author, screenwriter, and journalist who is probably best known as one of the stars of the HBO television show, and films, “Sex and the City,” as well as for his current role as Charlie Runkle, best friend to David Duchovny’s Hank Moody, on Showtime’s hit comedy “Californication” (Season 6 airing January 2013). Evan’s past film and TV credits include leading and featured roles in Ron Howard’s film “Ransom,” the early ’80′s box office smash “Taps,” Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers,” Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” and “The West Wing”; the ABC TV movie “The Three Stooges,” and the sit-com “It’s Like, You Know…,” as well as memorable guest appearances on “Lost,” “Six Feet Under,” “Law and Order,” and “Friends”.

Prior to his work in film and television Evan played leading roles in seven Broadway productions – all prior to his thirtieth birthday. Among them were “Six Degrees of Separation”; “I Hate Hamlet”; “Brighton Beach Memoirs”; “Broadway Bound”; and “Master Harold…and the boys”. Off-Broadway, Evan appeared in two Donald Margulies world premieres, “Found a Peanut” (NYSF/Public Theater), and “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” (Manhattan Theater Club); “SLAM” in EST’s Marathon ’84; and Jacquelyn Reingold’s “String Fever,” also at EST.

In addition to his acting appearances, Evan is the author of two books. 
Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors
, is Handler’s critically acclaimed debut memoir, detailing his unlikely recovery from leukemia, and his escape from the clutches of those supposedly devoted to its treatment. His most recent book, 
It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive
 describes the years since the illness, and the surprisingly long and complex journey toward long-delayed gratitude. A regular featured contributor to the Huffington Post, more information about Evan and his books is available at EvanHandler.com.

“Brutally frank and blisteringly angry, Handler’s story is also the most enjoyable account of a battle with cancer you’ll ever read. Remarkably open and life-affirming, Handler’s account is as valuable as Norman Cousins’s
Anatomy of an Illness
and as wonderfully literate as Anatole Broyard’s
Intoxicated by My Illness
.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

 “A raw, thoughtful memoir…suspenseful and harrowing…moving and admirable.”

—
New York Times Book Review

“Vivid, whip smart…Spiked with humor and dizzying clarity, Handler’s story is a genuine testament to human will.”

—
Salon.com

“Angry, hilarious, and riveting. A wildly humorous, keenly observed journey. A ceaselessly compassionate vision of the human spirit”

—
San Francisco Review of Books

“A visceral knockout of a book, a Kafkaesque Saturday Night Live version of negotiating for your life. Evan Handler is a brilliant writer, unrelenting in his observation of the sacred and the absurd.”

—Amy Tan, author of
The Joy Luck Club
and
The Bonesetter’s Daughter

“A captivating memoir. Entertaining, harrowing and ennobling. Handler speaks with a fresh voice that is entirely riveting.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Blunt, swaggering, observant, and seductively charming. A great performance.”

—
Entertainment Weekly

“A simply magnificent book, beautifully written, heartbreakingly honest, inspirationally courageous. I could not put it down. It deserves to become a classic.”

—Larry Kramer, activist, author, and playwright of
The Normal Heart, The Destiny of Me