Save Yourself

by Cameron Esposito

Overview

This "hilarious and honest" bestselling memoir from a rising comedy star tackles issues of gender, sexuality, feminism, and the Catholic childhood that prepared her for a career as an outspoken lesbian comedian (Abby Wambach).


Cameron Esposito wanted to be a priest and ended up a stand-up comic. Now she would like to tell the whole queer as hell story. Her story. Not the sidebar to a straight person's rebirth-she doesn't give a makeover or plan a wedding or get a couple back together. This isn't a queer tragedy. She doesn't die at the end of this book, having finally decided to kiss the girl. It's the sexy, honest, bumpy, and triumphant dyke's tale her younger, wasn't-allowed-to-watch-Ellen self needed to read. Because there was a long time when she thought she wouldn't make it. Not as a comic, but as a human.

SAVE YOURSELF is full of funny and insightful recollections about everything from coming out (at a Catholic college where sexual orientation wasn't in the nondiscrimination policy) to how joining the circus can help you become a better comic (so much nudity) to accepting yourself for who you are-even if you're, say, a bowl cut-sporting, bespectacled, gender-nonconforming child with an eye patch (which Cameron was). Packed with heart, humor, and cringeworthy stories anyone who has gone through puberty, fallen in love, started a career, or had period sex in Rome can relate to, Cameron's memoir is for that timid, fenced-in kid in all of us-and the fearless stand-up yearning to break free.




INDIE BESTSELLER
WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
SEATTLE TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF MARCH

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455591435
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,003,587
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Cameron Esposito is a Los Angeles-based comic, actor, and writer. Cameron's career has spanned everything from big-budget films to Sundance indies to animation. She costarred in and cocreated the much-lauded Take My Wife, now on Starz, has written for the New York Times, and has appeared as herself on TV, podcasts, and web series alike. Cameron hosts a popular interview podcast, Queery with Cameron Esposito, and her recent hit comedy special, Rape Jokes, raised almost $100,000 for rape crisis intervention.

Editorial Reviews

10/28/2019

Comedian Esposito, who costarred in and cocreated Starz’s Take My Wife, delivers “the dyke’s tale my younger self needed to read” in this powerful yet often lighthearted memoir of growing up gay in a devout Catholic home. A middle child in a loving Italian household in a Chicago suburb, Esposito was often mistaken for a boy and realized early on that her desires didn’t align with the “proper” gender norms—she asked for Ken dolls rather than Barbies, and recklessly rode her bike. Her Catholic education intensified her discomfort with her body (“Tampons were a years-long struggle, since as a Catholic, you’re not really supposed to root around down there?”) and experimenting with boys as a teenager only underlined her desire for women. Finally, after coming out while a student at Boston College (a Catholic college whose “nondiscrimination policy did not include sexual orientation”) she had an epiphany: “Shit, I think my Catholicism broke.” Esposito is wildly funny and is particularly adept at finding humor in tough moments (when her religious mother asks if she’s gay, there was “a pause so pregnant, it had to be induced and then given a C-section”). This entertaining and candid memoir of finding one’s identity will resonate with readers doing the same. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

INDIE BESTSELLER
WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
SEATTLE TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF MARCH

"In her new memoir, Save Yourself, Esposito writes with her signature deadpan humor, but her story is much more nuanced than your typical celebrity memoir."—The Seattle Times

"Resisting the tropes that often serve only to further marginalize LGBTQ+ characters in literature, Esposito's book tells her own, unapologetically queer story, no holds barred."—Bustle

"In Save Yourself, Esposito brings her signature sharp-as-nails humor and deeply resonant insight into a memoir about growing up Catholic, and how that helped her be gay. (Well, sort of.)"—Electric Literature

"Looking for a more aggressively raucous personal account of reconciling faith with sexuality? Acclaimed comic Cameron Esposito is your source. Save Yourself charts the good, the bad, and the messy of Esposito's personal journey, from joining the circus to having period sex in Rome."—Harper's Bazaar

"Cameron Esposito's Save Yourself is an insightful and often hilarious memoir of gender, identity, and much more."—Largehearted Boy

"[A] read that's both heart-breaking and heart-warming, with a heavy dose of laugh out loud humor."—Chicago Reader

"A laugh-out-loud collection of cringeworthy stories covering everything from coming out in yours 20s-at a Catholic women's college, nonetheless-to accepting yourself for who truly are-even if you're "'a bowl cut-sporting, bespectacled, gender-nonconforming child with an eye patch.'"—Queerty

"Save Yourself digs deep into the pitfalls of growing up gay and Catholic-a very human, very relatable tug-of-war Esposito experienced firsthand and is finally ready to talk about. Esposito hive, rest assured: She does so with honesty, humility, and plenty of laughs."—New Now Next

"In [Save Yourself], Esposito explores her coming out process and writes the queer coming-of-age story she wishes she heard as a young person. From being an awkward tween with an eyepatch to worrying God cursed her with ringworm after her first gay kiss, this memoir will make you laugh, cry, and feel a little bit gayer."—Book Riot

"Esposito brings her distinctive and queer-focused brand of humor to the memoir, combining laugh-out-loud moments with somber reflections on gender, sexuality, religion, social power dynamics, and how to start saving yourself."—Booklist

"Save Yourself details [Esposito's] funny, cringeworthy, and insight recollections, from joining the circus to become a better comedian, to coming out at a Catholic college and having period sex in Rome."—Xtra

"This book offers a balm for anyone who has grown up gender atypical and for those who sometimes feel as though they haven't grown up at all."—Oprah Magazine

"Esposito is wildly funny and is particularly adept at finding humor in tough moments. . . This entertaining and candid memoir of finding one's identity will resonate with readers doing the same."—Publishers Weekly

"Cameron's humor is hope. Her quick wit is both a balm and a guide for anyone who has ever stepped out blithely into a world of doers trying to force themselves closed upon us. This book is about survival and love and laughter. I loved it."—Jacqueline Woodson, #1 New York Times bestselling author and actual literary genius

"Cameron is as hilarious and honest in these pages as she is on the stage. Because our stories are so similar, her hard-won wisdom and brilliant humor have helped me heal. Save Yourself is a gift that will help every person who reads it become braver, bolder, and more comfortable in their own perfect skin."—Abby Wambach, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Wolfpack and Olympic soccer star who Cameron believes she's the same size as

"If you haven't seen Cameron Esposito perform comedy, you should be sad, because she's so so so funny, so full of insight, courage, and just plain VERVE. Luckily she invented the written word (or would have if someone hadn't already—she's just that unstoppable) and now you can carry her voice and story and full-throated insistence on living in truth right along with you, every day. And now you can be happy. Finally."—John Hodgman, author of New York Times bestseller Vacationland, plus a very funny man

"It can't be understated how necessary a book like Save Yourself is. . . I think everyone would benefit from reading this book, but most of all I hope Save Yourself finds its way into the hands of every queer person longing for stories like their own."—Tegan Quin, musician, inventor of most lesbian haircuts, and coauthor of High School

"Cameron Esposito is just as fierce and funny and frank on the page as she is out loud. And she's only begun to tell her story."—Paul F. Tompkins, comedian and fairly elected president of podcasting

"Filled with both charming, hilarious, and cringe-worthy personal anecdotes, this is a book anyone can relate to—especially if you’ve ever been an awkward, closeted teen."—Real Simple

From the Publisher