Leslie F*cking Jones

by Leslie Jones

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The funniest people are often the most driven and focused. Leslie Jones is all of those things. This is a memoir that provides a window not just into the celebrity of Jones, but her humanity as well.

WINNER OF THE 2024 AUDIE AWARD FOR HUMOR
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A BARNES AND NOBLE'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 
A TOWN & COUNTRY BEST CELEBRITY MEMOIR OF 2023
A VULTURE BEST COMEDY BOOK OF 2023

Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you.

Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL. Whether I’m talking about my childhood growing up in the South, my early stand-up days driving from gig to gig through the darkest parts of our country and praying I wouldn’t get murdered, what Chris Rock told Lorne Michaels, that time I wanted to shoot Whoopi Goldberg on SNL, and yeah, I’ll tell you all about Ghostbusters and the nudes and Supermarket Sweep and The Daily Show . . . I’m sharing it all in these pages. It’s not easy being a woman in comedy, especially when you’re a tall-*ss Black woman with a trumpet voice. I have to fight so that no one takes me for granted, and no one takes advantage. These are the stories that explain why. (Cue the Law & Order theme.)
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538706497
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	184,303
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Leslie Jones is an NAACP Image Award winner, and a three-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live between 2014-2019. In 2023, she appeared in the movie Good Burger 2. She has also been honored as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Jones recently wrapped production on season two of the HBO Max series OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH. In 2021, she starred opposite Eddie Murphy in COMING 2 AMERICA , for which she won an MTV Movie Award and was nominated for a People’s Choice Award.

Editorial Reviews

2023-07-13
A Saturday Night Live alum reflects on her rocky road to fame.

An award-winning Black female comedian with a clothing collection worthy of Diana Ross, Jones never expected to live in the limelight. The daughter of an alcoholic military veteran and a spirited mother who “made shit work” despite poor health, the author dealt with traumas beyond those in her immediate family, including racist harassment and sexual abuse. Her energy, aggressiveness, and height made her a star basketball player in high school and earned her a college scholarship and the possibility of a career in athletics. But when Jones took to the stage of a campus comedy competition, she knew that telling jokes was what she would be doing for “the rest of my life.” College and her basketball scholarship fell by the wayside, and she went to Los Angeles to begin working with limited success as a Black female comic in the white male world of stand-up comedy. When Jamie Foxx told her she hadn’t “lived long enough” to know how to tell jokes, Jones quit comedy and took a government job where she was passed around from manager to manager “like a joint.” Six years later, Jones finally took to the stage again while also learning to heal from pain through a newfound faith. A visit to New York opened her eyes to the possibilities—and respect—available to women comics while preparing her for what was to come almost 15 years later: a six-year stint with SNL, which taught her the meaning of telling her truth as a comedian of her own—rather than someone else’s—making. This refreshingly uncensored book will appeal to Jones’ many fans and to anyone who appreciates the struggles Black female comics face on the road to success.

Refreshingly candid, gritty, and real.

Kirkus Reviews

"This is not the kind of comedian memoir that’s an extension of the act, an explicit provider of context, or a personal-branding exercise. This is a conversational celebration of the force of nature that is Leslie Jones from the world’s foremost expert on Leslie Jones."—Vulture

"This refreshingly uncensored book will appeal to Jones’ many fans and to anyone who appreciates the struggles Black female comics face on the road to success."—Kirkus Reviews

"Coming in with the best title of a memoir this season, Leslie Jones is here to share, and we’re glad she did. . .Guaranteed to be funny and interesting."—New York Post

"Jones fans will enjoy the stories of a working comic on the road, behind-the-scenes “SNL” tidbits. . . In the end, it’s best consumed as life advice, even if the life led by the one giving the advice is entirely unique."—AP News

From the Publisher

In her own inimitable style, Leslie Jones tells listeners how she embraced and reveled in her self-worth, and learned more than a few hard lessons en route to becoming a larger-than-life comic performer. Before GHOSTBUSTERS and "Saturday Night Live," Jones came into her own at comedy clubs in Los Angeles and New York City, making a name for herself and developing her voice. No listener can leave this memoir unaffected as Jones laughs and sobs, sharing the highs and lows, joys and sorrows of her full life. Jones's nuanced exploration of her family relationships reveal the complex influence they had on her personal and professional evolution. The author's irresistible personality and candid performance elevates this audiobook production into a must-hear experience. J.R.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2023 - AudioFile