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A collection of darkly humorous, intensely personal essays by cult fave and multi-hyphenate artist Jean Grae.
In My Remaining Years, by creative juggernaut Jean Grae, debunks the myth that coming-of-age narratives should be reserved for the kids, providing a much-needed rallying cry for those of us still trying to figure it out in our forties. These laugh-out-loud essays cover everything from aging gracefully (with and without botox), what happens when you look for community and almost start a cult, befriending childhood demons (Hi Mumm-ra!), gender fluidity in middle age, the cost of being too fabulous, and the various gymnastics we do to avoid becoming our parents, taking us from her childhood in 1980s New York City to present-day Baltimore. In these pages, Jean captures magic in a bottle, distilling the feeling of hanging out with your smartest, funniest, and most brutally honest best friend.
"A fierce, funny book that embraces life and all its imperfections with open arms." —Kirkus Reviews
"Skillfully crafted...[Grae] captures the magic of sharing unforgettable and unpleasant moments with humor, while remaining refreshingly honest in her coming-of-age reflections." ―Booklist
"I have often considered how much better society would be if a small version of Jean Grae could live on every bookshelf. All of my experiments in this field have ended in international sanctions and house fires. But as usual, Jean had a better idea and wrote this book. The portable Jean now exists, and you must buy it!" ―John Hodgman, comedian and author of Medallion Status
"This haphazard world is so very lucky Jean Grae wrote a book. A hall of myriad doorways into a mind and life like no other―so deep, so funny, so genius. If you've ever felt stuck articulating the unrelenting chaos of existing, Jean has got you covered and then some." ―Aparna Nancherla, actress, comedian, and author of Unreliable Narrator
"I'm in awe of the many talents of Jean Grae. What a pleasure it is to discover that, as I'd expected, Jean is excellent at writing books, too." ―Maris Kreizman, author of I Want To Burn This Place Down
This information about In My Remaining Years was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jean Grae is a multidisciplinary artist, humorist, and former rapper with over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She's collaborated with influential musicians including The Roots, Robert Glasper, and her prolific body of work is featured at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2019, the Public Theater commissioned her one-person show Jeanius, which played for a limited time and sold out to audiences in New York City. She currently resides in Baltimore with her shared-custody cat Littles. In My Remaining Years is her first book.
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