Amazon.com: Maybe You Never Cry Again: Bernie Mac: Books

From Publishers Weekly
Mac's first book, I Ain't Scared of You (2001), was a comedy riff of sorts, covering everything from sex and marriage to professional athletes and religion, interspersing tidbits about Mac's own life. Now the comedian presents an autobiography of sorts, with sprinkles of funny insights on poverty, senior proms and choosing books over drugs. It may be a tad more serious than his first effort, but it entertainingly tells the life story of one of today's top comedians. Mac, who has his own television show and has appeared in movies including Ocean's 11 and Head of State, reports on his life thus far, including his childhood on Chicago's South Side, how he broke into comedy and his wife and family. Like his approach to stand-up-"I don't sit home and polish the material. Talking shit, I call it. And as long as they're laughing, I know I'm on the right track"-Mac's book feels impromptu yet personal. Although it does recycle some material from I Ain't Scared, this is nonetheless an uplifting-and humorous-rags to riches story, told with heart. (On sale Apr. 29)
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

One night, I come in and find my mama in front of the TV, cryin'. And you know how it is when you're a little kid: your mama cryin', you gonna be cryin' in a minute.

"What's wrong, Mama?" I ask her.

"It's nothin', Bean. Sometimes I think sad thoughts."

"What thoughts?"

She didn't answer. She was lookin' at the TV. Black guy's talkin' to Ed Sullivan. I look at him, but I don't hear but a few words. And I can't make them out anyway, see, because suddenly my mama's laughin' to bust a gut. Her whole lap's shakin'. I got to hold on tight or get thrown clear across the room.

I turn to look at her -- this is the same woman that was cryin' a second ago? -- then turn back to the TV. "Who that man, Mama?"

She's still laughin'. Takes her a while to catch her breath. "Bill Cosby, son. He's a comedian."

A comedian?

"What's that?"

I look over at this Bill Cosby. I don't know what he's talkin' about -- but I know that, whatever it is, it's got power.

"That's what I want to be, Mama. A comedian. Make you laugh like that, maybe you never cry again."

By the tender age of five, Bernie Mac had found his calling: making others laugh. Now this amazing comedian delves deep inside to tell the poignant story of his childhood and the people who helped shape him into the comedian -- and the strong and self-reliant man -- he is today.

When Bernie was just sixteen, he lost his beloved mother to breast cancer. As he was growing up, she was a tough but loving teacher of life lessons and "Mac-isms," which would carry him through many hardships: You have to meet all of the challenges, big and small. Because how you start is how you finish. The loudest, clearest voice needs to be the one inside your own self. These lessons gave him the strength to choose hope over despair and to follow his dream of becoming a comedian.

Bernie recounts his slow rise to stardom, from doing stand-up at a church dinner at age eight to performing in amateur open-mike nights to earning a regular gig at Chicago's Cotton Club, and eventually to entertaining huge audiences onstage and in film and on television.

An inspiring memoir filled with hope-restoring humor, Maybe You Never Cry Again is a powerful testament to how a mother's love makes everything possible.

See all Editorial Reviews

Maybe You Never Cry Again (Hardcover)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought