Most Kids had a role model.
Jason Mayo had Jack Tripper and a broken home.
In Case of Emergency, Break Childhood is the unfiltered, painfully funny, and surprisingly hopeful memoir of a Gen Xer who came of age with a latchkey, a bottomless bowl of Honeycombs and a growing list of reasons to disappear. From a broken home and backyard breakdowns to frat house chaos, vodka-fueled trainwrecks, and a lawn that knows too many secrets, this is the story of a boy who never quite fit in and a man who tried everything not to feel—until he had no choice but to face himself. Through depression, addiction, and a mixtape of bad decisions, Jason takes us on a brutally honest journey from disconnection to redemption. It’s a love letter to imperfection, a survival guide for the quietly unraveling, and proof that even the most broken among us can find peace—no matter how many times we’ve hit snooze on rock bottom.