by Jane Lynch
First published 2011
Jane Lynch opens her memoir in 1974 Dolton, Illinois, where she dreams of becoming an actress like Ron Howard and Vicki Lawrence. The fourteen-year-old faces long odds getting from the South Side of Chicago to Hollywood, especially after dropping out of her school production of The Ugly Duckling. Lynch struggles with anxiety about her sexuality and her place in her family. She drinks heavily starting freshman year and develops the sharp tongue that would later define Sue Sylvester. At thirty-one, she finally gets sober, comes out to her parents, and embraces who she is. A Frosted Flakes commercial and coffee shop encounter lead to Christopher Guest's Best in Show, opening doors to The 40-Year-Old Virgin and films with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Meryl Streep. Two pivotal moments seal her fate: getting lost in a hotel introduces her to future wife Lara, and a canceled series frees her to audition for Glee. Lynch reflects on how worry never helped her career, only readiness for unexpected opportunities did.
Genres: drama, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir, comedy
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-adversity
Setting: Chicago, Dolton, Hollywood, Illinois
Period: 1970s, 2000s
304 pages · Hardcover · Voice
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, anxiety, depression