Self-Sabotage
And Other Ways I've Spent My Time
Published on 22. May 2025
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-06-332877-8 (ISBN)
Description
"Jeffery takes us on a wild-sometimes shocking-and always funny romp."-Andy Cohen
"Excellent . . . Self is a very clever writer . . . and there's never a dull moment in his captivating, extremely well-written stories that will have readers hoping for more."-Booklist (starred review)
In the vein of works by Gary Janetti and Danny Pellegrino, an honest, funny, and heartfelt comedian memoir-in-essays about chasing your dreams, making big messes, and finding yourself along the way.
In his debut book for adults, Jeffery Self invites readers into his world, taking them through a chaotic coming of age story and the usual foibles of gay adolescence, amplified in the vast wasteland of the American South and the odd characters who peopled it, from shoddy community theater productions to underage drinking with Broadway stars, from downtown comedy rooms to adventure-filled bedrooms. Along the way, he shares his experiences of acting in TV and film, touring live comedy around the world, getting booed off gay cruise ships, a tenure in the "oldest profession," meeting his heroes, falling in love, getting his heart broken, breaking other people's hearts, being hated, hating himself, and on the best of days, finding stuff to like about himself, too.
This candid LGBTQ+ memoir, Self-Sabotage, is a deeply personal and intimate exploration of Self's life, filled with humor, heartache, and a hearty dose of bipolar disorder. It asks the profound question of how you become the person you want to be when so much of yourself is a secret-and how you learn to accept yourself when it's not. It is also, of course, side-splittingly funny.
In these unflinchingly honest and candid essays, Self explores the chaotic highs and lows of a life lived without a safety net:
Showbiz Memoir: From disastrous community theater productions to acting opposite Hollywood legends, Jeffery shares the unglamorous reality of a life in show business-including getting booed off a gay cruise ship.
Unflinching Honesty: With candor and razor-sharp wit, Self recounts his time in "the oldest profession," navigating love and heartbreak, and learning to live with a bipolar diagnosis.
Funny Essays: A collection of laugh-out-loud stories about everything from underage drinking with Broadway stars to the particular chaos of growing up gay in the American South.
Pop Culture Obsession: Perfect for fans of Broadway, classic films, and celebrity tell-alls, this book is a love letter to the icons and moments that shape a queer identity.
"Excellent . . . Self is a very clever writer . . . and there's never a dull moment in his captivating, extremely well-written stories that will have readers hoping for more."-Booklist (starred review)
In the vein of works by Gary Janetti and Danny Pellegrino, an honest, funny, and heartfelt comedian memoir-in-essays about chasing your dreams, making big messes, and finding yourself along the way.
In his debut book for adults, Jeffery Self invites readers into his world, taking them through a chaotic coming of age story and the usual foibles of gay adolescence, amplified in the vast wasteland of the American South and the odd characters who peopled it, from shoddy community theater productions to underage drinking with Broadway stars, from downtown comedy rooms to adventure-filled bedrooms. Along the way, he shares his experiences of acting in TV and film, touring live comedy around the world, getting booed off gay cruise ships, a tenure in the "oldest profession," meeting his heroes, falling in love, getting his heart broken, breaking other people's hearts, being hated, hating himself, and on the best of days, finding stuff to like about himself, too.
This candid LGBTQ+ memoir, Self-Sabotage, is a deeply personal and intimate exploration of Self's life, filled with humor, heartache, and a hearty dose of bipolar disorder. It asks the profound question of how you become the person you want to be when so much of yourself is a secret-and how you learn to accept yourself when it's not. It is also, of course, side-splittingly funny.
In these unflinchingly honest and candid essays, Self explores the chaotic highs and lows of a life lived without a safety net:
Showbiz Memoir: From disastrous community theater productions to acting opposite Hollywood legends, Jeffery shares the unglamorous reality of a life in show business-including getting booed off a gay cruise ship.
Unflinching Honesty: With candor and razor-sharp wit, Self recounts his time in "the oldest profession," navigating love and heartbreak, and learning to live with a bipolar diagnosis.
Funny Essays: A collection of laugh-out-loud stories about everything from underage drinking with Broadway stars to the particular chaos of growing up gay in the American South.
Pop Culture Obsession: Perfect for fans of Broadway, classic films, and celebrity tell-alls, this book is a love letter to the icons and moments that shape a queer identity.
Reviews / Votes
"Excellent. . . . Self is a very clever writer . . . and there's never a dull moment in his captivating, extremely well-written stories that will have readers hoping for more." - Booklist (starred review)"A rollicking adult debut. . . . Self's winning voice shines through. . . . This delightfully over-the-top self-portrait brims with pleasures." - Publishers Weekly
"For Jeffery to live a million lives is one thing; for them to range from beautifully sordid to painfully sweet is another. But the best, luckiest thing of all is that he is sharing and affirming all of them with us. As a fellow VGL (very good-looking) gay man, I love this book!" - Bowen Yang
"It will come as no surprise to his fans that Jeffery Self has written a very funny book. But Self's account of his own life, from his boyhood as an imperious theater kid to his youth on the make in the big city to his semi-well-adjusted adulthood, holds real insight-on the complexities of artistic collaboration, or the importance of queer chosen family-amid plenty of sex, silliness, and showtunes." - Rumaan Alam, New York Times-bestselling author of Leave the World Behind and Entitlement
"Manages to walk the tightrope between hilarity and honesty with consummate skill. The sort of comedy and candor that takes your breath away." - Graham Norton, New York Times-bestselling author of Frankie
"Self-Sabotage is divinely funny, boldly honest, and a damn good time. This book is deeply relatable. Every mistake, every lesson learned, every lesson that needs to be relearned and then learned again spoke to me on a cellular level. It's the human condition, rendered here with incredible heart. Jeffery Self is charming as hell and a truly fantastic writer." - Kristen Arnett, New York Times-bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things, With Teeth, and Stop Me If You've Heard This One
"Jeffery's reflections on his life and his journey are so funny and so entertaining that it took me a while to realize how moved I was by the stories, as well. It is, in fact, not unlike spending time with him in person: there's a lightness of touch, a sweetness and charm that so beautifully frames a real depth and understanding of our shared humanity. He is a gift." - Jim Parsons
"Here's what I loved about Jeffery's Self's book, Self-Sabotage. (Aside from the fact that his last name created the perfect title.) It manages to be both super funny and super moving. Jeffery hysterically recounts his days as a tyrannical child actor and failed gay cruise ship entertainer while never being anything less than brutally honest about all the things that make him, and all of us, human." - Gary Janetti, New York Times-bestselling author of We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay
"Jeffery takes us on a wild-sometimes shocking-and always funny romp through his (insane!) travails in Manhattan's aboveground and underground universe." - Andy Cohen, New York Times-bestselling author of The Daddy Diaries
"Jeffery is both our raucous Auntie Mame and the wounded child in her care, and he gives us a moving portrait of both in this deep exploration of, well, Self. I couldn't put it down." - Steven Rowley, New York Times-bestselling author of The Guncle
"[Self] writes with a kind of hilarious intensity about bad decisions, bad behavior and bad breakups. And he's not just charmingly self-deprecating, he's searingly self-lacerating. ... Even if you don't know Jeffery Self the actor, you should check out Jeffery Self the writer-he's in complete command of himself and his voice." - NPR
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
390 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-332877-8 (9780063328778)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2025
HarperCollins
€19.06
Available for download
Person
Jeffery Self is a writer and actor whose television credits include Search Party, The Horror of Dolores Roach, Shameless, 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, as well as co-creating and starring in the cult lo-fi series Jeffery & Cole Casserole with Cole Escola. His film credits include Drop, Spoiler Alert, Mack & Rita, and The High Note. He is the author of the young adult novels Drag Teen and A Very, Very Bad Thing. He lives in New York City.