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Summary
Summary
In the summer of 1974, a fourteen-year-old girl in Dolton, Illinois, had a dream. A dream to become an actress, like her idols Ron Howard and Vicki Lawrence. But it was a long way from the South Side of Chicago to Hollywood, and it didn't help that she'd recently dropped out of the school play, The Ugly Duckling . Or that the Hollywood casting directors she wrote to replied that "professional training was a requirement."
But the funny thing is, it all came true. Through a series of happy accidents, Jane Lynch created an improbable--and hilarious--path to success. In those early years, despite her dreams, she was also consumed with anxiety, feeling out of place in both her body and her family. To deal with her worries about her sexuality, she escaped in positive ways--such as joining a high school chorus not unlike the one in Glee-- but also found destructive outlets. She started drinking almost every night her freshman year of high school and developed a mean and judgmental streak that turned her into a real-life Sue Sylvester.
Then, at thirty-one, she started to get her life together. She was finally able to embrace her sexuality, come out to her parents, and quit drinking for good. Soon after, a Frosted Flakes commercial and a chance meeting in a coffee shop led to a role in the Christopher Guest movie Best in Show , which helped her get cast in The 40-Year-Old Virgin . Similar coincidences and chance meetings led to roles in movies starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and even Meryl Streep in 2009's Julie & Julia . Then, of course, came the two lucky accidents that truly changed her life. Getting lost in a hotel led to an introduction to her future wife, Lara. Then, a series she'd signed up for abruptly got canceled, making it possible for her to take the role of Sue Sylvester in Glee , which made her a megastar.
Today, Jane Lynch has finally found the contentment she thought she'd never have. Part comic memoir and part inspirational narrative, this is a book equally for the rabid Glee fan and for anyone who needs a new perspective on life, love, and success.
WITH A FOREWORD BY CAROL BURNETT
Author Notes
Jane Lynch grew up on the south side of Chicago and currently lives in Los Angeles. She married Dr. Lara Embry in 2010, and was lucky enough to get two daughters in the deal.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Starting in the Midwestern town of Dolton, Ill., author and narrator Jane Lynch chronicles her life, detailing childhood, graduate school, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Shakespearean stage productions, commercials, television pilots, supporting roles in comedies, and Emmy Award nominations. Following her triumphs and struggles, listeners will find themselves rooting for Lynch as she works through self-loathing and sexual repression and humbly chalks up her fame to a series of "happy accidents." Lynch's signature dry and acidic delivery comes out at times-to seal a punch line or offer up a pithy one-liner to end a chapter-but overall, her voice takes on a softer tone. Her narration is intimate and her honesty, humor, and warmth come across perfectly. Lynch's performance will leave listeners engaged, entertained, and wanting more. A Voice hardcover. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
It has often been said that a typical Hollywood actress's career is likely to stall after the age of 40. Yet Jane Lynch, currently enjoying the greatest success of her life at 51, is no typical Hollywood actress. A string of small, hilarious, head-turning roles (in Best in Show, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The L Word, and Two and a Half Men, among others) helped catapult her to stardom and Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Sue Sylvester on the hit television series Glee. Lynch might call this . happy accident. but it is really the hard-earned result of her extraordinary talent, ambition, and inner strength. In this engaging, inspirational autobiography, Lynch reflects with humor and candor on her lifelong search to fit in; her self-sabotaging insecurities; conflicts with family, friends, and peers; her past drinking problem; struggling with her sexuality; and her work in the trenches of theater, television commercials, and as a member of the Second City improv comedy troupe. Now blissfully married, she credits her wife and daughter for bringing peace and stability to her life.--Keech, Chri. Copyright 2010 Booklist
Kirkus Review
A triumphant memoir recounting the inner struggles of one of the most versatile actresses working today.The breakout star of TV'sGleeon and the hit moviesBest in ShowandRole Modelsrecounts her past as an archetypical tragic clownlaughing on the outside but highly anxious on the inside. Growing up in suburban Illinois, Lynch always dreamed of becoming an actress. But at the outset of her career, the author was so wracked with fear, anxiety and self-doubt, she almost derailed her own ambitions. Crushing on the gals at school instead of the guysand trying to hide her sexualitydidn't help. Desperately wanting to belong, Lynch only alienated herself from the people with whom she sought connection and camaraderie. The author delves into these topics, and many more, with a well-earned sense of self-awareness. When she finally attains not only love, but a whole new family, and achieves fulfillment in her career, readers cannot help but share in her obvious joy. The screwy sense of the preposterous imbued in so many of Lynch's on-screen characters is in full effect here, even when the author recalls some of her darkest momentslike those times when she sought to kill the long, solitary hours between live performances with over-the-counter tranquilizers.Achingly sad and sweetly comic at the same time.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Although Lynch remembers her life as a series of happy accidents, the listener is soon aware that the actress has been focused and hard-working in her long career. She worked in the theater and on a TV shopping channel and acted in commercials, movies (like the hilarious Best in Show), and many small TV roles. At nearly 50, she landed a sensational part in the Fox channel hit Glee-the role that made her an award-winning star. Along the way, she faced some hard personal issues and emerged confident in her achievements with a skyrocketing career and a wonderful family. Lynch is an experienced voiceover performer and great reader of her own story. This audiobook is recommended for public libraries with collections in popular culture and gender studies. ["Those who give her a chance may find a kindred spirit and be inspired by her personal awareness," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Voice hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 7/8/11.-Ed.]-Barbara Valle, El Paso P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. ix |
| 1 Pontifical | p. 1 |
| 2 Grand Delusions | p. 19 |
| 3 Refuge | p. 39 |
| 4 Normal | p. 57 |
| 5 The Call of Comedy | p. 77 |
| 6 Compulsion | p. 101 |
| 7 Angry Lady | p. 129 |
| 8 Walk Like a Man | p. 153 |
| 9 Canyon Lady | p. 177 |
| 10 Jobber | p. 205 |
| 11 The Dangers of Flattery | p. 227 |
| 12 "Perfect" | p. 245 |
| 13 Feast | p. 273 |
| Epilogue | p. 301 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 303 |
