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Books > Biography > Film, television, music, theatre
A hilarious, poignant memoir from comedian Todd Glass about his
decision at age forty-eight to finally live openly as a gay
man--and the reactions and support from his comedy pals, from Louis
CK to Sarah Silverman.
Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb in the 1970s was an easy life.
Well, easy as long as you didn't have dyslexia or ADD, or were a
Jew. And once you added gay into the mix, life became more
difficult. So Todd Glass decided to hide the gay part, no matter
how comic, tragic, or comically tragic the results.
It might have been a lot easier had he chosen a profession other
than stand-up comedy. By age eighteen, Todd was opening for big
musical acts like George Jones and Patti LaBelle. His career
carried him through the Los Angeles comedy heyday in the 1980s, its
decline in the 1990s, and its rebirth via the alternative comedy
scene and the explosion in podcasting. But the harder he worked at
his craft, the more difficult it became to manage his "situation."
There were the years of abstinence and half-hearted attempts to
"cure" himself. The fake girlfriends so that he could tell
relationship jokes onstage. The staged sexual encounters to burnish
his reputation offstage. It took a brush with death to cause him to
rethink the way he was living his life; a rash of suicides among
gay teens to convince him that it was finally time to come out to
the world.
Now, Todd has written an open, honest, and hilarious memoir in an
effort to help everyone--young and old, gay and straight--breathe a
little more freely. Peppered with anecdotes from his life among
comedy's greatest headliners and tales of the occasionally insane
lengths Todd went through to keep a secret that--let's face it--he
probably didn't have to keep for as long as he did, "The Todd Glass
Situation" is a front-row seat to the last thirty plus years of
comedy history and a deeply personal story about one man's search
for acceptance.
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Alex
(Hardcover)
David Lyons
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R726
R651
Discovery Miles 6 510
Save R75 (10%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In a searingly candid memoir which he authored himself, Grammy
Award-winning pop icon Rick Springfield pulls back the curtain on
his image as a bright, shiny, happy performer to share the
startling story of his rise and fall and rise in music, film, and
television and his lifelong battle with depression.
In the 1980s, singer-songwriter and actor Rick Springfield seemed
to have it all: a megahit single in "Jessie's Girl," sold-out
concert tours, follow-up hits that sold more than 17 million albums
and became the pop soundtrack for an entire generation, and 12
million daily viewers who avidly tuned in to "General Hospital "to
swoon over his portrayal of the handsome" "Dr. Noah Drake. Yet
lurking behind his" "success as a pop star and soap opera
heartthrob" "and his unstoppable drive was a moody, somber, " "and
dark soul, one filled with depression and insecurity.
In "Late, Late at Night," the memoir his millions of fans have
been waiting for, Rick takes readers inside the highs and lows of
his extraordinary life. By turns winningly funny and
heartbreakingly sad, every page resonates with Rick's witty, wry,
self-deprecating, brutally honest voice. On one level, he reveals
the inside story of his ride to the top of the entertainment world.
On a second, deeper level, he recounts with unsparing candor the
forces that have driven his life, including his longtime battle
with depression and thoughts of suicide, the shattering death of
his father, and his decision to drop out at the absolute peak of
fame. Having finally found a more stable equilibrium, Rick's story
is ultimately a positive one, deeply informed by his passion for
creative expression through his music, a deep love of his wife of
twenty-six years and their two sons, and his life-long quest for
spiritual peace.
The full story of Taylor Swift's stratospheric rise to fame; all
any dedicated Swifty needs to know about the pop superstar who's
taking over the world. A small-town girl with an incredible talent,
and the strength to realise her dream, Taylor has grown into an
award-winning, chart-topping artist and worldwide star, as well as
a strong and stylish woman. But how did she get there? And what
lies in store for her in the future? From childhood dreams of a
musical future in Pennsylvania, to determined and budding teen
musician with a trademark she's stayed faithful to ever since:
honest lyrics about real-life events; her fight to be taken
seriously in the music industry, through to the rewards of success
and the intense pressure of expectation, Taylor Swift: The Whole
Story is a full account of Taylor's incredible journey, with
everything you need to know about America's Sweetheart. This
compelling book is packed full of fascinating details revealing the
true Taylor - what drives, motivates and moves her, how she
overcame the challenges that loomed on the road to fame and looks
at how authentic her wholesome image is, plus the truth about her
relationships with Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor Kennedy
and who she's really talking about on her tracks. The full portrait
of a girl who could so easily have faded into the background - but
who blossomed in the spotlight into a grounded, graceful and
inspiring young woman.
Six-time Emmy Award-winning funny man Tim Conway, best known for
his roles on "The Carol Burnett Show," offers a straight-shooting
and hilarious memoir about his life on stage and off as an actor
and comedian.
In the annals of TV history, few entertainers have captured as many
hearts, tickled as many funny bones, and brought as many families
together in living rooms across America as Tim Conway. In "What's
So Funny?" he brings his hilarious hijinks from the screen to the
page.
Conway's often-improvised humor, razor-sharp timing, and hilarious
characters have made him one of the funniest and most authentic
performers to grace the stage and studio. As Carol Burnett has
said, "there's no one funnier" than Tim Conway. Now, Conway takes
us on a seventy-year, rags-to-riches journey that is touchingly
comical and ultimately inspiring, from his pranks in small Ohio
classrooms during the Great Depression to his pitch-perfect
performances on national TV and in major motion pictures. Along the
way, Conway shares hilarious and often moving accounts of the glory
days of "The Carol Burnett Show"; his famous partnerships with
entertainment greats like Harvey Korman, Don Knotts, and Dick Van
Dyke; and his friendships with stars like Betty White, Bob Newhart,
and, of course, Carol Burnett, who also provides an intimate
foreword to the book.
As Conway continues to tour the country giving live comedy
performances that enchant his always eager audiences, "What's So
Funny?" brings his warmth, humor, and heart to delight and inspire
fans everywhere.
A fearless innovator who inspired designers, models,
photographers, and artists, Diana Vreeland, the famed editor of
Vogue, reinvented the way we think about style. In this first
full-length biography, Amanda Mackenzie Stuart tells the story of
Vreeland's childhood on New York's Upper East Side, her first job
at Harper's Bazaar, her renowned post at Vogue, and her role as
special consultant to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Empress of Fashion is an intimate and surprising
look at an icon who made a lasting mark on the world of
couture.
This memoir from the bestselling author of "Postcards from the
Edge" and "Wishful Drinking" gives you an intimate, gossip-filled
look at what it's like to be the daughter of Hollywood royalty.
Told with the same intimate style, brutal honesty, and uproarious
wisdom that locked "Wishful Drinking" on the "New York Times"
bestseller list for months, "Shockaholic" is the juicy account of
Carrie Fisher's life. Covering a broad range of topics--from
never-before-heard tales of Hollywood gossip to outrageous moments
of celebrity desperation; from alcoholism to illegal drug use; from
the familial relationships of Hollywood royalty to scandalous
run-ins with noteworthy politicians; from shock therapy to talk
therapy--Carrie Fisher gives an intimate portrait of herself, and
she's one of the most indelible and powerful forces in culture at
large today. Just as she has said of playing Princess Leia--"It
isn't all sweetness and light sabers"--Fisher takes readers on a
no-holds-barred narrative adventure, both laugh-out-loud funny and
poignant.
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