“Gabourey Sidibe’s delightful memoir offers a memorable look into what happens when a black girl’s dreams come true, from the inside out. Sidibe is fearless, incredibly funny, and gorgeously open. What she offers of herself in these pages is a gift.”—Roxane Gay
In This Is Just My Face, Gabourey Sidibe—the “gives-zero-effs queen of Hollywood AND perceptive best friend in your head” (Lena Dunham)—paints her unconventional rise to fame with full-throttle honesty. Sidibe tells engrossing, inspiring stories about her Bed-Stuy/Harlem/Senegalese family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway, her first job as a phone sex “talker,” and her Oscar-nominated role in Lee Daniels’s Precious.
Sidibe’s memoir hits hard with self-knowing dispatches on friendship, celebrity, weight, haters, fashion, race, and depression (“Sidibe’s heartfelt exploration of insecurity . . . makes us love her” —O Magazine). Irreverent, hilarious, and untraditional, This Is Just My Face will resonate with anyone who has ever felt different, and with anyone who has ever felt inspired to make a dream come true.
“This memoir [is] a book you will want to give your daughter.” —New York Times
“Sidibe’s hilarious Twitter account is no fluke—the Empire actress’s memoir about growing up in New York City and finding unexpected fame in Hollywood is sharp, witty, and wonderfully substantive.” —Entertainment Weekly
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“You’re the BOMB, girl!”—President Barack Obama
“Gabourey Sidibe’s delightful memoir This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare offers a memorable look into what happens when a black girl’s dreams come true, from the inside out. From her unique childhood as the daughter of a subway singer mother and polygamous father to struggling with depression to getting the role of Precious, Sidibe is fearless, incredibly funny, and gorgeously open. What she offers of herself in these pages is a gift.”—Roxane Gay
“Here, Gabourey Sidibe cements her status as gives-zero-effs queen of Hollywood AND perceptive best friend in your head. Frank, funny, and insanely charming, these stories reveal the girl behind the gown and show Hollywood for what it really is: a wet T-shirt contest of an industry that sometimes redeems itself by picking the right star. Gabby is that star, and you'll root for her on every page—we are blessed by her honesty, passion and wit.”—Lena Dunham
“’I just wrote the truth, and it made me feel better.’ That is the theme of this unique and universal book by a young woman who is both a total surprise and an instant classic. Gabby combines New York and Senegal, the streets and the heights, bravery and self-doubt, laughing and seriousness. Her truth helps us to find ours—and what could be a bigger gift than that?”—Gloria Steinem
“To know Gabby is to love Gabby. To read her book is to love her even more. It is bold, brave, on-your-front-foot writing. Her story inspires you to step up and own your life with a compassion and confidence so potent that it will break down any door.”—Laura Linney
“I always knew Gabby was magic.”—Johnetta Elzie
