Happy Accidents

July 25, 2011
Lynch, known for her role as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Fox's Glee, reflects on her convoluted career path in this compelling memoir packed with personal revelations. She begins with her "pure Americanaâ childhood in Dolton, Ill., where she "felt like an outsiderâ and began drinking while a high school freshman. As an Illinois State theater major, she became "for-real gay, not just in-my-head gay,â and then headed to Cornell for an M.F.A. and more drinking: "I became a real asshole. I started pushing away anyone who showed me kindness.â Scenes opposite Harrison Ford in The Fugitive (1993) kicked off the synchronistic series of happy casting accidents that put her on the path to fame. Those expecting a humorous book from the up-tempo Lynch will be surprised to find she has instead excavated an introspective tunnel into the dark side of her "inner landscape,â a shadowy world of depression, insecurities, anxieties, therapy, and AA meetings. Her honest insights make this a potent page-turner, but Glee fans will be disappointed to find the few pages devoted to the series can easily be read while standing in a bookstore aisle.