Synopses & Reviews
Advance praise for Why the Long Face?“In this book Craig Chester writes, without malice, of how, at a Fire Island disco, he once vomited on me. I was honored. Hes a terrific actor, and a hilarious writer, and hes way too much fun to be anyones role model.”—Paul Rudnick, author of In & Out
“Oh my God, I had no idea that Sandra Bullock has a four-inch penis. Just kidding. This is a charming, often hilarious book about a very interesting man and this mans very interesting town—Hollywood.”—Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors
“[Chesters] perspective and voice are unlike any other of his generation. The stories are exhausting in their hilarity, and affirm that the talent of a writer is part luck in the design that surrounds him.”—Parker Posey, actress
“Craig Chesters been through long-face syndrome, AIDS: The Musical!, a Diana Ross TV movie about schizophrenia, and a lover who dumped him on 9/11, and hes emerged wise, funny, and self-aware, with astounding revelations about the joys and pains of being an out actor and the redeeming nature of art and integrity. His page-turner of a memoir is a Sundance audience favorite waiting to happen, and no matter what the agents say, he should play himself!”—Michael Musto, The Village Voice
Review
This is a charming, often hilarious book about a very interesting man and this mans very interesting town—Hollywood.”—Augusten Burroughs, author of
Running with Scissors“Not only does he have some delightfully eyebrow-raising stories to tell, but he tells them with a wit and comic sensibility that cant help but be heard.”—Dennis Hensley, author of Misadventures in the (213)
“If Noel Coward had grown up in a trailer park, he would have become Craig Chester.”—Illeana Douglas, actress
Review
"This is a charming often hilarious book."
- Augusten Burroughs author of Running With Scissors
"Witty...absorbing [Chester] is an engaging storyteller."
- Publishers Weekly
"There is no denying his heart and humor, both of which are abundant."
- Out Magazine
"His page-turner of a memoir is a Sundance audience favorite waiting to happen."
- Michael Musto, The Village Voice
"This is an insanely funny book. Chester's life is deeply weird, but also hilarious, mortifying and triumphant ."
- Mike Albo author of Hornito
"[Chester's] perspective and voice are unlike any other of his generation. "
- Parker Posey
"Chester's go-ahead-and-laugh debut memoir shows a difficult adolescence evolving into a succesful independent-film career. Intriguing."
- Kirkus
Review
"This is a charming often hilarious book." Augusten Burroughs author of Running With Scissors
Review
"Witty...absorbing [Chester] is an engaging storyteller." Publishers Weekly
Review
"There is no denying his heart and humor, both of which are abundant." Out Magazine
Review
"His page-turner of a memoir is a Sundance audience favorite waiting to happen." Michael Musto, The Village Voice
Review
"This is an insanely funny book. Chester's life is deeply weird, but also hilarious, mortifying and triumphant ." Mike Albo author of Hornito
Review
"[Chester's] perspective and voice are unlike any other of his generation. " Parker Posey
Review
"Chester's go-ahead-and-laugh debut memoir shows a difficult adolescence evolving into a succesful independent-film career. Intriguing." Kirkus
Synopsis
Craig Chesters witty and wry observations on his life and those who have occupied it come together to create this funny, sentimental, yet irreverent collection of essays. From the backroads of Texas to the boardrooms of Hollywood, Craig Chester is unabashedly honest about the pain and the unique rewards of remaining an outsider in an insiders world.
While his family prepares to watch the apocalypse from their rooftop with a bucket of KFC, Craig is trying to climb the social ladder at school by saving his neighbors from their sinful ways and speaking in tongues (with not-so-successful results). Along the way Craig experiences gender confusion at grade-school summer camp and has massive reconstructive surgery to correct his deformed teenage face, only to emerge and realize that Hollywood success isnt always measured in externals, but also in the machinations of the heart and how much you dont show. All along he expertly captures the feeling of what its like to not always fit in—and have that be okay—with a comic timing thats tuned in to the heart and soul of trying to get by day to day.
His tales of life, from growing up in the Bible Belt to starring in nine films, prove that the average American life is anything but normal.
Synopsis
A wonderfully comic memoir in the vein of
Running With Scissors.
Synopsis
If you are a fan of David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs you're going to love Craig Chester. With a laugh on nearly every page, Chester encapsulates his life growing up in the bible belt to being crowned the king of independent cinema into seventeen pitch perfect comic essays that like-it-or-not are all real experiences from his life.
If you're embarrassed to laugh-out-loud in public read this book at home.
Includes trips in a conversion van with a backseat porto-potty! Speaking in tongues! Apocalypse watching with buckets of KFC! S*!% throwing monkeys! Pureed Thanksgiving dinner. Diana Ross! Alien abduction! And a healthy dose of throwing up.
About the Author
Craig Chester has starred in many films, including
Swoon, Grief, Frisk, Kiss Me Guido, and
I Shot Andy Warhol. He continues to act while also writing screenplays. He lives in New York City.