CACK-HANDED

Brazen, emboldening tales of the author's arduous childhood and journey to success as a comedian.

Throughout, Yashere, writer and producer of the CBS show Bob Hearts Abishola, is by turns disarmingly funny, inspiring, and disjointed. The meaning of cack-handed, she explains, is "left-handed, which I am, and also clumsy and awkward, which I am. It also represents the unconventional track my life and career have taken—including writing this book myself.” Moving chronologically, the author begins with what she's been told about her Nigerian maternal grandmother; Yashere’s mother believes she was killed by her husband's other wives. Sent to live in England for protection, the author’s mother is the most intriguing character in the book. Overprotective and sometimes mean, she inadvertently inspired Yashere to use humor to defuse stressful and threatening situations. Being subjected to overt racism while working as an elevator engineer made the author want to learn more about Black culture, which led her to meetings of the Pan-African Community Enterprise. After writing and performing her first sketch, by 1995, she writes, "I had become one of the hottest young comics on the circuit." Yashere used to be convinced that White audiences wouldn't connect with Black experiences, yet it wasn't until she began performing authentically in front of all crowds that she really became famous. After seeing her daughter on TV, Yashere's mother stopped pressuring her to get a proper job. The author describes coming out to her mother as a lesbian and her mother's reaction: "My daughter is a gay clown." Yashere replied, "You could say that, yeah." The author also includes memories of her abusive stepfather and her experience, as an adult in Nigeria, meeting her biological father for the first time since he left the U.K. when she was 3. Though Yashere isn’t the most appealing stylist on the page, her voice is consistently candid and unique.

By virtue of her raw honesty and acerbic wit, Yashere makes it easy to root for her.