TOP TV COMEDY HITMAKER CHUCK LORRE (THE BIG BANG THEORY, MIKE & MOLLY, TWO AND A HALF MEN) SIGNS BOOK DEAL WITH SIMON & SCHUSTER AND LEARNS THAT "WHAT DOESN'T KILL US, MAKES US BITTER"

First-Ever Print Collection of Lorre's Irreverent and Often Controversial End-of-Show

Vanity Cards to Be Published in Hardcover Coffee Table Book in October 2012

All Book Sale Proceeds to Benefit the Dharma-Grace Foundation

NEW YORK and BURBANK, Calif. (August 1, 2012) - Blockbuster comedy writer/producer Chuck Lorre - co-creator/executive producer of TV's two most-watched sitcoms, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, and executive producer of hit comedy Mike & Molly - is expanding into publishing, signing a deal with Simon & Schuster for the release of What Doesn't Kill Us, Makes Us Bitter, the first-ever print collection of Lorre's irreverent and often controversial end-of-show vanity cards.

The hardcover coffee table book will be published in October 2012, with a retail price of $100 (U.S.) and $110 (Canada), and will feature a curated selection of Lorre's vanity cards. All proceeds from the sale of What Doesn't Kill Us, Makes Us Bitter will benefit the Dharma-Grace Foundation, established by Lorre in 1999 to further his ongoing support of the Venice (Calif.) Family Clinic - the largest free medical clinic in the country, dedicated to providing free, quality health care to people in need - as well as many other health care-related charities and educational efforts.

Since 1997, fans of some of the most popular sitcoms ever broadcast - The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly and Dharma & Greg - have been granted a fleeting glimpse each week into the unfettered and uncompromising mind of the incredibly prolific creative force behind those series, Chuck Lorre. That's because Lorre devotes exactly one second of airtime per show to expressing his deepest thoughts at the end of the credits on his now-infamous vanity cards, which for many years could only be enjoyed by freeze-framing on a VCR and squinting to read the tiny, wobbling words.

Now, for the first time ever, hundreds of Lorre's witty and insightful musings have been gathered together in a published volume that reveals a hilarious, thought-provoking and scandalous body of work unlike any other creative endeavor. Veering from philosophical treatises to personal revelations to the occasional furious diatribe, Lorre never shies away from controversy - even in the face of network censorship, as has often happened.

But never fear: Every word on the original vanity cards included in this curated selection is here - even the censored texts that never made it to air. Enhanced with sly, ingenious illustrations and designs that capture the off-kilter essence of Lorre's bite-sized dispatches, What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter will change the way you think about life, the universe and TV - or at least it'll save your eyesight.

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Online, and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at simonandschuster.com.