A01=Phil Hanley
adhd
Author_Phil Hanley
Category=ATXD
Category=DNC
Category=VFJR3
comedian memoir
Coping with humor
dyslexia
dyslexie font
education
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_health-lifestyle
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Growing up with dyslexia
learning disability
Learning to read
Literacy
Living with dyslexia
meditation
mental health
neurodivergent
overcoming
perseverance
standup comedy
TikTok
tools for dyslexia
Product details
- ISBN 9781250860156
- Weight: 360g
- Dimensions: 220 x 149mm
- Publication Date: 21 Apr 2025
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Company Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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When Phil Hanley entered school, he realised something that would forever set him apart from his peers: he couldn’t read. His teachers were ill-equipped to assist him. His school system lacked the proper resources. Phil slipped through the school's cracks, year by year falling farther and farther behind his friends, only passing to each next year because of his mother’s interventions. Finally he was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability that would shape the rest of his life.
In Spellbound, Phil Hanley shares his experience living with extreme dyslexia. Unable to pursue college or a conventional job, Phil was thrust into a life to be defined by unconventional twists. He moved to Europe and became a successful runway model, a job that suitably kept him away from pens and paper. When that career flamed out, Phil retreated home to Vancouver where, eager to cure himself of his dyslexia, he turned to an all-consuming obsession with Transcendental Meditation. Finally, he found himself on a stage with a microphone, a spotlight, and five minutes of jokes. Though stand-up was never his dream, the comedy community provided a path that at the time seemed to be the only option left for him, and one that he compellingly argues, saved his life. Spellbound is a story of humour and also of struggle and heartbreak, of constantly living in a world that sees things differently than you, and of triumph over adversity.
Phil Hanley's comedy career began at open mics in Vancouver, Canada. It then went on to include his own Comedy Central special, "The Half Hour," and performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, The Pete Holmes Show, John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, and @midnight. He has been showcased at every major comedy festival and can be seen regularly at The Comedy Cellar in New York City.
