Save Yourself

October 28, 2019
Comedian Esposito, who costarred in and cocreated Starz’s Take My Wife, delivers “the dyke’s tale my younger self needed to read” in this powerful yet often lighthearted memoir of growing up gay in a devout Catholic home. A middle child in a loving Italian household in a Chicago suburb, Esposito was often mistaken for a boy and realized early on that her desires didn’t align with the “proper” gender norms—she asked for Ken dolls rather than Barbies, and recklessly rode her bike. Her Catholic education intensified her discomfort with her body (“Tampons were a years-long struggle, since as a Catholic, you’re not really supposed to root around down there?”) and experimenting with boys as a teenager only underlined her desire for women. Finally, after coming out while a student at Boston College (a Catholic college whose “nondiscrimination policy did not include sexual orientation”) she had an epiphany: “Shit, I think my Catholicism broke.” Esposito is wildly funny and is particularly adept at finding humor in tough moments (when her religious mother asks if she’s gay, there was “a pause so pregnant, it had to be induced and then given a C-section”). This entertaining and candid memoir of finding one’s identity will resonate with readers doing the same.

February 15, 2020
Esposito brings her distinctive and queer-focused brand of humor to the memoir, combining laugh-out-loud moments with somber reflections on gender, sexuality, religion, social power dynamics, and how to start the process of saving yourself. She details pivotal moments in this personal history, frequently through the lens of past relationships, and discusses her coming out experience, her painful but loving relationship with her family, her intense history with Catholicism, her longstanding and complicated dynamic with food, and how her career went from nothing to acclaimed stand-up comedian. Known in recent times for her marriage to and work with a fellow comedian, Esposito chooses to instead focus on her life leading up to her pivotal move to Los Angeles. From her dating the high school football star while mooning over her best friend to being an unapologetic queer celebrity, this hilarious and emotional memoir charts Esposito's growth personally, professionally, and spiritually. Those looking to learn more about this social justice-driven comedian will find the unflinching self-examination of a person ready to share something beyond her stand-up routine.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)