About Everything I Never Wanted to Be
• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Dream of Things (October 1, 2010)
Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera is the true story of a family’s battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. Dina’s grandfather and father were alcoholics. Her grandmother was a pill addict. Dina is an alcoholic and pill addict, and all three of her daughters struggle with alcohol and drug addiction – including her youngest daughter, who started using heroin at age fourteen.
Dina’s household also includes her husband and his unemployed identical twin, a mother who has Parkinson’s Disease, a grandson who has cerebral palsy, and various other friends and family members who drift in and out of the household depending on their employment situation and rehab status. On top of all that, Dina is trying to make it as a stand-up comic and author so she can quit her crummy job as a grocery store clerk. Through it all, Dina does her best to hold her family together, keep her faith, and maintain her sense of humor.
The story opens with Dina on stage, competing on the “Funniest Mom in America” TV show. She’s performed hundreds of times, but this time she freezes because she’s flashing back to her teenage daughter’s harrowing hospital stay following a suicide attempt. From there, it’s a rollercoaster ride that includes stories of parental neglect, drug overdoses, a priest who masturbates while hearing confessions, a tragic childbirth, a teen who finds out via videotape that she was raped while she was high on crystal meth, a stay in a mental ward, a surprisingly redemptive trip to Disneyland, and more relapses and rehabs than you can keep track of. It’s a story that is brutally honest–shocking at times–yet still funny and full of hope.
In many ways, Everything I Never Wanted to Be is a cross between Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club and James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. As you might imagine, a story filled with alcoholics and drug addicts includes a number of horrific events. But in the end, Everything I Never Wanted to Be is an uplifting story that contains valuable lessons for parents and teens alike, and a strong message about the need to address the epidemic of teen drug addiction in our nation. It’s a book that can change behavior and save lives—and make you laugh along the way.
About Dina Kucera
Dina Kucera was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After completing a project to collect and identify fifty insects, she graduated from ninth grade and left school for good. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Her first job was a paper route, and she has worked as a maid, bartender, waitress, and grocery store checker.
She has also been a stand-up comic for twenty years, for which she receives payment ranging from a small amount of
money to a very, very small amount of money. When it comes to awards and recognition, she was once nominated for a Girl Scout Sugar Cookie Award, but she never actually received the award because her father decided to stop at a bar instead of going to the award ceremony. Dina waited on the curb outside the bar, repeatedly saying to panhandlers, “Sorry. I don’t have any money. I’m seven.” Dina is married with three daughters, one stepson, and one grandson. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Visit Dina at her website.
Dina Kucera’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS
Tuesday, November 9th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Wednesday, November 10th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Tuesday, November 16th: Silver & Grace
Wednesday, November 17th: Knowing the Difference
Thursday, November 18th: A Fair Substitute for Heaven
Thursday, November 23rd: Lit and Life
Tuesday, November 30th: Suko’s Notebook
Wednesday, December 1st: {indie}pendent books
Thursday, December 2nd: my books. my life.
Monday, December 6th: Books Like Breathing
Tuesday, December 7th: Natty Michelle
Wednesday, December 8th: Literate Housewife
Thursday, December 9th: Lisa’s Yarns
Monday, December 13th: Reading on a Rainy Day
Tuesday, December 14th: Rundpinne
Wednesday, December 15th: Tina’s Book Reviews
Thursday, December 16th: Life In Pink
| Diary of a Stay at Home Mom |
| Sara’s Organized Chaos |
| Silver & Grace |
| Knowing the Difference |
| A Fair Substitute for Heaven |
| Reading on a Rainy Day |
| Lit and Life |
| Suko’s Notebook |
| {indie}pendent books |
| my books. my life. |
| Books Like Breathing |
| Natty Michelle |
| Literate Housewife |
| Lisa’s Yarns |
| Rundpinne |
| Tina’s Book Reviews |
| Life In Pink |