Just as I Am
A Memoir
Will be published approx. on 4. February 2021
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-06-293106-1 (ISBN)
Description
"In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history." -President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony
"Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and a mother, a sister and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by his hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say." -Cicely Tyson
"Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and a mother, a sister and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by his hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say." -Cicely Tyson
Reviews / Votes
"This book is Ms. Tyson's abundant treasure to each of us: her life, in her words, just as she is. She shares truths usually whispered between close friends in the dim light of a back bedroom, those candid declarations not often spoken aloud. And she tells her story the way only a black woman can: in all of its dazzling authenticity, heels off and voice undulating, shifting between anguish and exuberance. The art of acting is the art of exposing, an emotional unveiling before others. Ms. Tyson is as revelatory on these pages as she has been on the stage." - - Viola Davis, Academy, Tony, and Emmy award-winning actress and producer"The autobiography of Miss Cicely Tyson is a balm for the afflicted." - New York Times
"A forthright self-portrait of a determined woman and iconic cultural figure." - Kirkus Reviews
"What a gift this book leaves behind. . . . Reading it feels as if you're sitting in Tyson's regal presence, hearing her tell stories about her life as a Black woman in America; an Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor; a daughter, a mother, a wife. By its end, and long before that, you're in awe-someone truly remarkable has unveiled herself to you." - Seattle Times
"A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully." - USA Today
"This grand tale of her immense talent and desire to live out loud will resonate with anyone who has a dream." - O, the Oprah Magazine
"The autobiography of Miss Cicely Tyson is a balm for the afflicted." - New York Times
"It's in these poignant moments that the memoir becomes a resonant meditation on the link between an actress's life and her art. This showstopping tale hits the mark." - Publishers Weekly
"What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson's story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn't just her own. It's also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided." - Washington Post
"A juicy, honest, passionately Cicely memoir." - Wesley Morris, New York Times, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
"Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority..." - Booklist
"Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority..." - Booklist
"If you're ready for your next book, "Just As I Am" is the one to pick." - Washington Informer
"It's in these poignant moments that the memoir becomes a resonant meditation on the link between an actress's life and her art. This showstopping tale hits the mark." - Publishers Weekly
"A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully." - USA Today
"This book is Ms. Tyson's abundant treasure to each of us: her life, in her words, just as she is. She shares truths usually whispered between close friends in the dim light of a back bedroom, those candid declarations not often spoken aloud. And she tells her story the way only a black woman can: in all of its dazzling authenticity, heels off and voice undulating, shifting between anguish and exuberance. The art of acting is the art of exposing, an emotional unveiling before others. Ms. Tyson is as revelatory on these pages as she has been on the stage." - - Viola Davis, Academy, Tony, and Emmy award-winning actress and producer
"What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson's story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn't just her own. It's also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided." - Washington Post
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
615 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-293106-1 (9780062931061)
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
01/2021
1st Edition
HarperCollins
from
€9.99
Available for download
Person
Ms. Cicely Tyson is an actress, lecturer, activist, and one of the most respected talents in American theater and film history. From her starring role on Broadway in The Blacks (1961), to the Emmy-nominated 1999 HBO film A Lesson Before Dying, her work has garnered critical and commercial applause for more than sixty years. Her two Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman made her the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Best Actress. In 2013, Ms. Tyson won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful. A capstone achievement came in 2018, when she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar. The Board of Governors voted unanimously to honor her with the award, which came 45 years after her Academy Award nominated performance in Sounder.