If you’re ready for your next book, “Just As I Am” is the one to pick.
2020-10-27
An acclaimed actor recounts her eventful career.
In this highly anticipated and candid memoir (“plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside”), Tyson (b.1924)—winner of three Emmys, a Tony, an honorary Oscar, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, among other honors—ascribes her remarkable success to luck, grit, and the hand of God. She grew up in East Harlem, the daughter of West Indian parents whose marriage ended because of her father’s philandering. Her mother, a domineering presence in the young Cicely’s life, worked as a housekeeper. Irate when Cicely became pregnant at age 17, her mother insisted that she marry the child’s father. After two years, Tyson left her husband, patching together jobs to support herself and her daughter. A chance encounter set her on the path to modeling, which in turn led to an offer of a movie role. In 1972, she earned her first lead role, in Sounder—and her first Oscar nomination. While on tour to promote the movie, Tyson became increasingly aware of bigotry and returned home with a new sense of purpose, “saying to myself, Sister, you’ve got some educating to do.” She notes proudly that she became the first Black woman to star in a TV drama and “the first black TV actress to reveal my hair in its bare-naked state.” Besides chronicling her work in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Woman Called Moses, and as Kunta Kinte’s mother in Roots, among other roles, Tyson lays bare the details of her tormented relationship with Miles Davis, an unrepentant womanizer and substance abuser. “He had a strong need to be cared for,” writes the author, “and that need intersected with my desire to provide care.” Tyson ascribes her longevity to an organic vegetarian diet and daily meditation, and she defends her reputation for being difficult: “The truth is that I insist upon respect….Even now, at 96, I teach folks not to mess with me.”
A forthright self-portrait of a determined woman and iconic cultural figure.
The autobiography of Miss Cicely Tyson is a balm for the afflicted.” — New York Times
“A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully.” — USA Today
“This grand tale of her immense talent and desire to live out loud will resonate with anyone who has a dream.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
"It’s in these poignant moments that the memoir becomes a resonant meditation on the link between an actress’s life and her art. This showstopping tale hits the mark." — Publishers Weekly
“What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson’s story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn’t just her own. It’s also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided.” — Washington Post
"Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority…” — Booklist
“If you’re ready for your next book, “Just As I Am” is the one to pick.” — Washington Informer
“This book is Ms. Tyson’s abundant treasure to each of us: her life, in her words, just as she is. She shares truths usually whispered between close friends in the dim light of a back bedroom, those candid declarations not often spoken aloud. And she tells her story the way only a black woman can: in all of its dazzling authenticity, heels off and voice undulating, shifting between anguish and exuberance. The art of acting is the art of exposing, an emotional unveiling before others. Ms. Tyson is as revelatory on these pages as she has been on the stage." — — Viola Davis, Academy, Tony, and Emmy award-winning actress and producer
What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson’s story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn’t just her own. It’s also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided.
"Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority…
The autobiography of Miss Cicely Tyson is a balm for the afflicted.
A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully.
This book is Ms. Tyson’s abundant treasure to each of us: her life, in her words, just as she is. She shares truths usually whispered between close friends in the dim light of a back bedroom, those candid declarations not often spoken aloud. And she tells her story the way only a black woman can: in all of its dazzling authenticity, heels off and voice undulating, shifting between anguish and exuberance. The art of acting is the art of exposing, an emotional unveiling before others. Ms. Tyson is as revelatory on these pages as she has been on the stage."
A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully.
"Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority…
What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson’s story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn’t just her own. It’s also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided.
