"I stood on the bridge just before midnight, the wind from the ocean arriving in violent blasts, as if saying under its breath, 'Jump, motherf***er, jump.' This was the last of a string of attempted departures, most orchestrated in my tired mind. Always a bitter reminder of all that had been lost and destroyed by my foolishness." When suicide feels like your best option, you know something has gone horribly wrong--and that's just how Matt Thomson felt. He had lost everything: his wife, his children, his job, all his money, and his front door key. But everything changes when he meets Joey Murphy, ex-Merchant Marine, entrepreneur, teacher, and wild man, an enigmatic mixture of Forrest Gump, Merlin, and a long-lost best friend. Upon hearing Matt's woes, Joey offers Matt a life-changing deal he can't resist:
"The life you know has been completely predetermined by old habits, both your triumphs and your failures. If you are really at the end of your rope, these habits will drop away, and you will be free . . . I give you ten days, starting today. I will show you all you need to see. It is up to you." And with the deal struck Joey leads Matt on the roller-coaster ride of his life: a ten day adventure filled with dodging cop cars, playing Blind Man's baseball on the edge of a cliff, finding heaven in a Taco Bell, and learning how to open the hearts of total strangers. Joey introduces Matt to "the True Teacher," but also leads him to face his own deepest darkness and despair.

The Last Laugh