Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break

by Sherri Shepherd, Laurie Kilmartin (With)

Overview

Covering topics such as "It's Jesus or Jail," "Marriage, the Hard Way," "Children: The Gift You Can't Give Back," and "All the Things I Don't Know...And All the Things I Definitely Do," stand-up comedienne, actress, and ABC's The View co-host Sherri Shepherd comically chronicles her struggles to keep up with the many roles-professional, wife, mother, daughter, and friend-that women must play in today's world.

Sherri urges women to pursue their most important dreams and to never give up, but also let's readers know that it's okay to give themselves "permission slips" when things don't always work out the way they want them to. As her many fans know, Sherri is never hesitant to speak from the heart, and her bubbly personality shines through in this delightful autobiography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446558792
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/05/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	1,068,285
File size:	540 KB

About the Author

Sherri Shepherd is the former co-host of ABC's The View, which airs five days a week on ABC affiliates nationally and consistently draws more than 3 million viewers per show. She has also played a recurring character on NBC's 30 Rock.

Sherri has had a long career as a regular cast member on some of America's best-loved shows, including Suddenly Susan, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and her own show, Less Than Perfect. Sherri has also been in countless other TV shows and films including Beauty Shop, and Guess Who. Sherri resides in New York with her son.

Editorial Reviews

Regular watchers of The View might disagree with the anti-evolution, fundamentalist views of co-host Sherri Shepherd, but they can't help loving the roly-poly, good-natured stand-up comic and actress. In this combination memoir/self-help guide, she shares nuggets of wisdom she has wrested in her years as a daughter, a mother, a wife, and a celebrity. Honest, uplifting words from a funny, likable woman.

I was one of those kids who was always putting on a show,” The View cohost Shepherd writes in this tell-all memoir loosely structured as a self-help book; after every tumultuous chapter Shepherd gives the reader permission to do this or not do that based on her own experience (“Write yourself a permission slip that says, 'I tried, and I can't handle this' ”). Shepherd is a feisty African-American single mom, comedian and former Jehovah's Witness. The tone is good-natured, rueful and funny. Yet it will be no surprise that Shepherd has had a few bumps in the road: among others, being shamed by her family and church for having sex at age 14; rejected in her showbiz career; and the birth of a severely premature baby, divorce and a diagnosis of diabetes. Shepherd is a woman coming to terms with her altered looks as she passes 40 alone and raising a child. She is still religious, and occasionally the reader may pull back, such as when Shepherd admits she does not believe in evolution. All in all, though, this is a good, dishy read, if not easy to apply to one's own everyday life. (Oct. 14)

Publishers Weekly