Happy Accidents

July 25, 2011
Lynch, known for her role as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Fox's Glee, reflects on her convoluted career path in this compelling memoir packed with personal revelations. She begins with her "pure Americanaâ childhood in Dolton, Ill., where she "felt like an outsiderâ and began drinking while a high school freshman. As an Illinois State theater major, she became "for-real gay, not just in-my-head gay,â and then headed to Cornell for an M.F.A. and more drinking: "I became a real asshole. I started pushing away anyone who showed me kindness.â Scenes opposite Harrison Ford in The Fugitive (1993) kicked off the synchronistic series of happy casting accidents that put her on the path to fame. Those expecting a humorous book from the up-tempo Lynch will be surprised to find she has instead excavated an introspective tunnel into the dark side of her "inner landscape,â a shadowy world of depression, insecurities, anxieties, therapy, and AA meetings. Her honest insights make this a potent page-turner, but Glee fans will be disappointed to find the few pages devoted to the series can easily be read while standing in a bookstore aisle.

August 15, 2011

A triumphant memoir recounting the inner struggles of one of the most versatile actresses working today. 

The breakout star of TV's Glee on and the hit movies Best in Show and Role Models recounts her past as an archetypical tragic clown—laughing 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 guys—and trying to hide her sexuality—didn'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 moments—like 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 (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011
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 stardomand Emmy and Golden Globe awardsas Sue Sylvester on the hit television series Glee. Lynch might call this a 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

Starred review from October 31, 2011
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.

August 15, 2011

A triumphant memoir recounting the inner struggles of one of the most versatile actresses working today.

The breakout star of TV's Glee on and the hit movies Best in Show and Role Models recounts her past as an archetypical tragic clown--laughing 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 guys--and trying to hide her sexuality--didn'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 moments--like 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 (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)