Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#1Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 8/12/21 at 12:55pm
How exciting! I often prefer the perspective of a biographer, but Harvey is someone who should be able to tell his life story candidly and fairly –– and hilariously.
Good press for Funny Girl, too, if he's on the promo circuit.
From the publisher:
I Was Better Last Night bares the inner life of this eccentric nonconforming child from his roots in 1952 Brooklyn, to the experimental worlds of Andy Warhol and the Theatre of the Ridiculous, to the gay rights movements of the seventies and the tumultuous AIDS crisis of the eighties, through decades of addiction, despair, and ultimate triumph.
Mr. Fierstein’s candid recollections provide a rich window into downtown New York City life, gay culture, and the evolution of theater (of which he has been a defining figure), as well as a moving account of his family’s journey of acceptance.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678118/i-was-better-last-night-by-harvey-fierstein/
#2Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 8/12/21 at 2:16pmJust placed a preorder. I adore Mr. Fierstein and his career.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#3Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 8/12/21 at 3:12pmI just hope he doesn't remember how to spell my name!
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#4Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/23/22 at 2:34pm
From a People interview in which Harvey discusses the dilemma of gender:
"I'm still confused as to whether I'm a man or a woman," Fierstein says, turning serious. He says as a child he often wondered if he'd been born in the wrong body. "I don't have answers for anybody else 'cause I don't have answers for myself. When I was a kid, I was attracted to men. I didn't feel like a boy was supposed to feel. Then I found out about gay. So that was enough for me for then."
After a career which has been defined by his turns on Broadway (he has six Tony awards, for both playwriting and performing) and in films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, it is his ease at performing as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof ("No one has ever been happier walking around with a beard and five daughters and having everyone call me papa"
or Edna in Hairspray. "I don't know who I am. You wanna tell me who I am?" (Fierstein says he thinks about whether he is non-binary a lot "and it's the term that bothers me." "But let's put it this way," he says with a smile, "I don't think I've missed anything by not making up my mind."
#5Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/23/22 at 3:46pm
I ordered a signed edition from Barnes and Noble. I think it will be nice to have a book signed by a Tony winning groundbreaking LGBT theatre legend. I think Books A Million has some too. Also, Barnes and Noble does not sell or allow books to be autopenned, so they are all authentic signatures.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#6Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/23/22 at 3:48pm
I just hope he talks about "Harvey's famous shower parties", which inspired a section of Antony Sher's autobiography and a scene in Martin Sherman's A Madhouse in Goa.
#7Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/23/22 at 8:39pm
We are hosting an in-person event with him just north of Rhinebeck on 3/11 if anyone wants to make the trip! Ticket includes a signed book. Can’t wait.
https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/harvey-fierstein/
We also have signed copies available to order here:
https://www.oblongbooks.com/i-was-better-last-night-memoir-hardcover-signed-harvey-fierstein
tomwsjr
Leading Actor Joined: 5/9/05
#8Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/24/22 at 7:37am
What is a “shower party”. I’m intrigued
JasonC3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
#9Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/28/22 at 9:17pm
Very positive review by Alexandra Jacobs in the Times.
#10Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/28/22 at 10:14pm
After reading the Times review, I ordered it for my Kindle about 10 minutes ago. I’ll have it when I wake up tomorrow.
The Times review has a link to Harvey’s interview with Barbara Walters from 1983. It’s a fascinating watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wffy5QC40io
#11Harvey Fierstein's memoir, I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT, will be released in March 2022 (Knopf)
Posted: 2/28/22 at 10:18pm
I read it last week and it’s one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a LONG time.
Off-topic, but I also HIGHLY recommend Molly Shannon’s memoir “Hello, Molly!” which comes out next week.
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