The Wreckage of My Presence

December 1, 2020

Famous for breaking the Watergate story with Bob Woodward, Bernstein backtracks to his early-1960s experiences as a teenage reporter at the Washington Star in Chasing History. Structured around Gwendolyn Brooks's "We Real Cool," Punch Me Up to the Gods recounts award-winning poet/screenwriter Broom's upbringing in Ohio as a Black boy crushing on other boys, falling into wild sex and drug use, and finally finding his way. Laden with Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG, and Grammy honors, Foxx pivots here to talk about raising two very different daughters in Act Like You Got Some Sense (400,000-copy first printing; originally scheduled for October 2020). In The Windsor Diaries, published posthumously, Howard records staying with her grandfather at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park during World War II and befriending princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan, a viral sensation, pulls out the Southern charm to tell funny stories about life and celebrity in How Y'all Doing? (100,000-copy first printing). Having started the YouTube channel Dad, How Do I? to hand out the fatherly advice and how-to tips he wishes his dad had been around to give him, Kenney here reiterates that advice while surveying his childhood and how the channel went viral (75,000-copy first printing). In Sparring with Smokin' Joe, Lewis, director of journalism at York College, CUNY, recalls the months he spent in 1981 in the gym and on the road with boxing great Joe Frazier. Brat Packer McCarthy relates a life that encompasses acting, directing, and working as an award-winning editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler. In Sunshine Girl, Margulies shows how she created order amid the chaos of a difficult childhood to become an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress. In Sinatra and Me, Oppedisano, a longtime confidant and key member of the singer's management team, reflects on Sinatra's life, loves, and commitment to his craft (100,000-copy first printing). Finally, in The Wreckage of My Presence, actress/podcaster Wilson offers funny but heartfelt essays ranging from the joys of eating in bed to her obsessive need to be liked (100,000-copy first printing)

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2021
Actor (SNL, Happy Endings) and podcaster (Bitch Sesh) Wilson's first memoir is, at first blush, as big and kooky as one of the characters she has crafted or portrayed. In chapters ranging in topic from her love of lounging in bed and the Real Housewives franchise to spiritual explorations and family vacations, she is way out front, seemingly willing to bare her soul on the page. Rather than set up situations to showcase the glamour and glitz of her life as an actor, Wilson turns the trappings of fame into rich fodder for highlighting the absurdities of her Hollywood life. Her humorous writing flows in a rapid-fire, conversational tone, but underneath the laughs, the constant, human, and very relatable undercurrent becomes more apparent: this is also a woman seeking her footing through the grief of losing her mother and finding her place in the world. These personal (and yes, big and kooky) essays will appeal to fans of other funny female essayists like Chelsea Handler and Mindy Kaling, whether or not they are already devotees of Wilson's work.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.