A few years before The Humorist decided to devote himself to the selfless public service of raising his fellow citizens' HQ through cutting edge observational humor and personal anecdotes, he wrote a comedy thriller about a bizarre apprenticeship in the art of writing, a clandestine writing cult, and a vodka label writer's spiritual journey. 

When two unlikely entrepreneurs capitalize on the micro-beer craze by founding a micro-vodka company called Misery, they decide that the path to superior alcohol branding is to tell irreverent stories on vodka labels expressing disdain for life and promoting redemption through Misery. 

To master the art of writing, Marcus completes a writing apprenticeship with his deranged and reclusive uncle, who is a disciple of a writing school founded on the theory that anger engenders superior writing. 

Misery is wildly successful despite the owners' gross incompetence thanks to Marcus creating epic prose by effortlessly flying into blinding rages. But when it turns out that a Today show anchor Marcus falls in love with has a dark secret, he is thrust headlong into the hilarious world of a writing cult. 

Along the way, Marcus harnesses his writing prowess into a spiritual awakening and becomes engulfed in alcohol induced messianic zeal.