LEGITIMATE KID

A comedian and actor reckons with a lifetime of familial heartache.

Instead of packing the book with humor, Rodriguez largely details somber, even harrowing experiences. “I am grieving my losses, feeling my own pain, giving myself grace, and understanding why I operate the way I do,” she writes. The author focuses her nonlinear narrative around her long alienation from her absent father and her extremely difficult childhood. “I didn't know how bad it was,” she writes, “until we were so broke that we had to go out and beg for food.” She describes being molested by her mother’s boyfriend, before being sent to live with other relatives. “My mother was a young mom and she did a lot of things wrong,” writes the author. “She didn’t know better.” When Rodriguez became pregnant as a teenager, her mother beat her with a belt and pressured her to have an abortion. She chronicles how a divorce served as an impetus for her move to Los Angeles, and she candidly delineates a series of tribulations, including a tumultuous five-year relationship. A few years ago, the author met her father for the first time, and she “felt like a fool” when he asked for money. Refreshingly, Rodriguez opts for compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude. Only the final chapter chronicles getting her start as a comedian. “Stand-up comedy gave me the voice I never thought I had,” she writes. “After spending my life searching for validation, it became the place where I found it.” In 2013, she got her first real break, as a finalist on Last Comic Standing, after which she “became a full-time comic.” The author’s resilience is undeniable, but the narrative is often disjointed and repetitive, demonstrating that she is still finding her voice as a writer.

A genuine memoir that suffers from a lack of organization.