Merrill Markoe | Author

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Fiction: Laugh Track

Apr.20.2009

Merrill Markoe will be on this panel along with Sarah Dunn, Bill Scheft and Maria Semple. Amy Wallen will moderate the panel.

Featured Works

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PUBLISHED: Nov.01.2011

Cool, Calm and Contentious

In this hilarious collection of personal essays, New York Times bestselling author Merrill Markoe reveals, among other things, the secret formula for comedy: Start out with a difficult mother, develop some classic teenage insecurities, add a few relationships with narcissistic men, toss in an unruly pack of selfish dogs, finish it off with the kind of crystalline perspective...

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PUBLISHED: Dec.30.2008

Nose Down, Eyes Up

“NOSE DOWN,EYES UP” is, in spirit, a kind of follow up book to “WALKING IN CIRCLES BEFORE LYING DOWN” .It is, however, about a different set of overly communicative dogs. It also marks the first time I have tried to write a human male narrator. I have often written about the weird twists and turns I have observed in the intimate negotiations that take place between men and...

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PUBLISHED: Aug.28.2007

Walking in Circles Before Lying Down: A Novel

Dawn Tarnauer’s life isn’t exactly a success story. Already twice divorced, the young Californian is too busy job-hopping to start a career, her current boyfriend insists on living “off the grid,” her Life Coach sister perpetually interferes with incomprehensible affirmations, her eccentric mother is busy promoting the culmination of her life’s work: The Every Holiday Tree, and her...

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PUBLISHED: Jul.12.2005

The Psycho Ex Game: A Novel

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PUBLISHED: Jan.01.2005

What the Dogs Have Taught Me

Award-winning comedy writer Merrill Markoe, the slightly warped mind behind Stupid Pet Tricks, is an old hand with dogs. She knows who's boss (they are) and the myriad ways a loving pet can make you feel guilty twenty-four hours a day. This new edition of Merrill Markoe's classic collection of humorous essays gives readers the choicest selections along with brand-new material. In...

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PUBLISHED: Feb.01.2003

It's My F---king Birthday

It's her thirty-sixth birthday, and she really thought things would be different this year - that she'd have figured out men and how to get along with her narcissistic parents enough to survive a birthday celebration. But nothing's changed. Her disappointing day is capped off by the delivery of a huge bouquet of flowers from Carl, with whom she has recently, and bitterly, split. A...

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PUBLISHED: Feb.01.1997

Merrill Markoe's Guide to Love

When Merrill Markoe, successful comedian, two-time author, and four-time Emmy award-winner, looked back at her life's loves, she found a long track record with few successes. In this hilarious collection, Markoe walks ground that the average woman, lost in a sea of unsuccessful relationships, would never step on to present a bold, brazen, and brilliantly funny take on love and sex...

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PUBLISHED: Jan.01.1994

How to Be Hap Hap Happy Like Me

Perpetually interested in self-improvement, the author of What the Dogs Have Taught Me is back and funnier than ever. "By reading my book, you can become happier without ever having to leave the comfort and security of your own private hell," she writes. In How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me, Merrill Markoe has undertaken the arduous task of actually carrying out the best...

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Merrill's Latest Blogs

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Dec.13.2009 - 10:29 am

A very Bob Dylan Christmas from me to ye.

Bob Dylan has a new Christmas album out. I suggest you go to I Tunes and download him singing "I'll be Home for Christmas", then listen to it, as I tell you the...

Sep.23.2009 - 3:14 pm

I try doing some P.R.

1. Here is someone else's blog about me, my dogs and coffee.

Sep.10.2009 - 12:17 pm

In case anyone cares: An interview

with me.

Sep.07.2009 - 9:10 am

The Merrill Markoe show: Episode 2

No one has been clamoring for it, but here it is anyway. The German expressionist episode of Quickdraw McGraw that Hanna Barbara somehow forgot to make. Well, actually the whole...

Comments from Merrill

Jul.15.2009 - 7:41 pm

In response to: The art exhibit at Bed Bath and Beyond

Yep. Its always a sad day

Yep. Its always a sad day when a perfectly nice person welcomes you to a home full of really awful decor. What happens...

Jul.15.2009 - 7:33 pm

In response to: The art exhibit at Bed Bath and Beyond

I believe paintings on

I believe paintings on velvet are part of the mid twentieth century cocktail-figurative period. My BB and B is across...

Jun.05.2009 - 8:55 pm

In response to: New Winner: Most annoying word in the world

Good plan. Sshhhhhhh.

May.23.2009 - 10:19 pm

In response to: Recovering List Idiot

On the bright side, no honor killings.

No wonder we're friends. We read the same lists. I thought so too but then I thought if there was any heft to that...

May.23.2009 - 12:50 pm

In response to: Recovering List Idiot

Lucky you. I have a friend

Lucky you. I have a friend who is an illustrator who made ink out of her blackberry crop last year!

Writing

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Column: My Explanation of Narcissism

Published Reviews

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Nov.01.2008

Nose Down, Eyes Up

Published by Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus

BOOKLIST. Gil is a bit of a schlub. Nearing 50, he lives rent-free as a handyman in an elderly couple’s Los Angeles vacation home. His girlfriend, Sara, works as an animal...

Audio & Video

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merrill-markoe

Video: Does this Ipad come with matching shoes?

Video: Merrill Markoe presents Quickdraw Noir

Video: Something wonderful for the ladies.

About Merrill

Merrill Markoe was born in New York City but by the time high school reared its ugly head, the Markoe family had moved five times. They eventually landed on the San Francisco peninsula where, during her sophomore year, Merrill began a decade long tradition of...

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Connections

Causes Merrill Markoe Supports

1. The Jane Goodall Institute 2. Tailsofjoy.com 3. Best Friends Animal Rescue 4. The Humane Society 5. PETA

6. The Sam Simon Foundation