The first major biography of an American icon, comedian Bill Cosby. Based on extensive research and in-depth interviews with Cosby and more than sixty of his closest friends and associates, it is a frank, fun and fascinating account of his life and historic legacy. Far from the gentle worlds of his routines or TV shows, Cosby grew up in a Philadelphia housing project, the son of an alcoholic, largely absent father and a loving but overworked mother....

Comedian Heather McDonald, best known for her contributions to Chelsea Lately and After Lately, shares her story of life as a pretend grown up. She gives listeners a hilarious glimpse into awkward adult situations, including being a working mom whose parents live next door; having a stay-at-home husband who won't give an inch; having a sister who wants one of her eggs; and dealing with neighborhood moms who shunned her for taking her kids to a stripper...

"Number One Is Walking is Steve Martin's cinematic legacy-an illustrated memoir of his legendary acting career, with stories from his most popular films and artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Steve Martin has never written about his career in the movies before. In Number One Is Walking, he shares anecdotes from the sets of his beloved films-Father of the Bride, Roxanne, The Jerk, Three Amigos, and many more-bringing readers directly into...

From New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff comes the definitive biography of Robin Williams-- a compelling portrait of one of America's most beloved and misunderstood entertainers. From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his powerful Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative actor and comedian. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on...

A New York Times bestseller

A candid, compulsively readable, hilarious, and heartbreaking memoir of resilience and redemption by comedic genius Molly Shannon

At age four, Molly Shannon's world was shattered when she lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident with her father at the wheel. Held together by her tender and complicated relationship with her grieving father, Molly was raised

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"One man's journey to find meaning in Bill Murray's many unexpected adventures with everyday people, rare and never-before seen footage of the comedic icon participating in stories previously presumed to be urban legend. Whether it be singing karaoke late at night with strangers or crashing a kickball game in the middle of the afternoon, Bill Murray lives in the moment and by doing so, creates magic with everyday people." -- Container.

You may know W. Kamau Bell from his new, Emmy-nominated hit show on CNN, United Shades of America. Or maybe you've read about him in the New York Times, which called him the most promising new talent in political comedy in many years. Or maybe from The New Yorker, fawning over his brand of humor writing: Bell's gimmick is intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women's issues as inseparable. After all this love and praise, it's time...

"Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor, Colin Jost, has six sets of stitches on his face alone. He's been punched in at least four different sketches on Saturday Night Live, including once by his boss, Lorne Michaels. But if there's one trait that makes someone well suited to comedy, it's being able to take a punch-metaphorically and, occasionally, physically. From growing up as an overweight kid in a family of firefighters...

"Beloved writer Samantha Irby has returned to the printed page for her much-anticipated, sidesplitting fourth book following her 2020 breakout, Wow, no thank you, a Vintage Books Original. The success of Irby's career has taken her to new heights. She fields calls with job offers from Hollywood and walks the red carpet with the iconic ladies of Sex and the City. Finally, she has made it. But, behind all that new-found glam, Irby is just trying to...

"Bob Odenkirk's career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explain it here, because that is what memoirs are for. Charting a "Homeric" decades-long "Odyssey" from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago all the way to a dramatic career that is baffling to his friends, it's almost like there are two or three Bob Odenkirks...but there is just one and one is enough, frankly. Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting...