In a collection of personal essays that are "both rip-roaringly funny and sentimental, drawing natural (and justified) comparisons to David Sedaris and David Rakoff" (Esquire), longtime recording artist and actor Sam Harris recounts stories of friendship, love, celebrity, and growing up and getting sober.
In sixteen brilliantly observed true stories, Sam Harris emerges as a natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but with a voice uniquely his own. Praised by the Chicago Sun-Times for his "manic, witty commentary," and with a storytelling talent The New York Times calls "New Yorker- worthy," he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure episodes from his own colorful life. In "I Feel, You Feel" he opens for Aretha Franklin during a blizzard. "Promises" is a front-row account of Liza Minnelli's infamous wedding to "the man whose name shall go unmentioned." In "The Zoo Story" Harris desperately searches for a common bond with his rough-and-tumble four-year-old son.
What better place to find painfully funny material than in growing up gay, gifted, and ambitious in the heart of the Bible belt? And that's just the first cut: From partying to parenting, from Sunday school to getting sober, these slices of Ham will have you laughing and wiping away salty tears in equal measure with their universal and down-to-earth appeal. After all, there's a little ham in all of us.
Industry Reviews
Ham is a fabulous and funny, tasty treat; sweet and savory with just right touch of tang.--Broadway World
Ham is humorous, soul baring, name dropping, and just the right mix of vulnerability and snarkiness.--Washington Blade
"Ham is, by turns, harrowing and hilarious, uplifting and soul-shattering, agonizing and liberating. --Oklahoma Magazine
"Ham is a dishy celebrity memoir combined with profoundly harder things like 9/11, alcoholism, suicide attempts, coming out, marriage and parenting. There is as much hilarity in the book--he knows how to make people laugh, especially at him. He really opens up, showing us his struggles, and has far deeper dimensions that I wasn't expecting when I picked up this book. He's clearly added writing into his stable of talents, and I am hoping folks will give this book a try. --The Tattered Cover
"Ham is honest and heartbreaking, entertaining and devastating all at the same time. --The Steadfast Reader
"Ham is a collection of heartfelt, sharply funny memoirs. At a time when other essayists in the style of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs seem to have scraped the bottom of their autobiographical barrels, Harris arrives with great observational writing chops and a deep well of material to draw upon." --Passport Magazine
"Reading singer-actor Harris's essays is like having your smartest gay BFF propped up on your pillow sipping cosmos, regaling you with gossip and his keen wit."
--People
"The essays in Ham are both rip-roaringly funny and sentimental, drawing natural (and justified) comparisons to David Sedaris and David Rakoff."--Esquire
"This neo-vaudevillian stage persona, Harris has opted to launch Ham the only way he knows how: extravagantly, theatrically and, most of all, big...refreshingly self-effacing observations and playful humor." --The Huffington Post
"With a wry sense of humor, Harris writes about his life through humorous essays. Touching on everything from parenting to show business, he dishes on the ups and downs of his life through a witty lens."
--PopSugar
