Publishers Weekly
05/27/2024
Insecure actor Ellis recounts amusing anecdotes from his “behaviorally challenged” childhood in this briskly funny debut memoir-in-essays. After posting an ode to his mischievous imaginary friend, Mikey, on Instagram at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ellis received a flood of responses, confirming his suspicion that “the most creative people on the planet probably all had imaginary friends growing up.” Using Mikey’s unconditional encouragement as a jumping-off point, Ellis shares freewheeling stories from his early life in the 1980s and ’90s, which saw his family move regularly across the South and Southwest due to his father’s Air Force career. He covers family road trips, the time he threw his Magic Johnson Converse sneakers in a rain gutter to prove they could “float like Jordans,” and an afternoon when Mikey encouraged him to ask his third grade homeroom teacher to be his girlfriend. Throughout, Ellis underlines how Mikey’s confidence helped him navigate an “uncontrollable and often unsafe” world, lending depth to an otherwise riotously funny series of self-reflections. Even readers unfamiliar with Ellis’s acting work will be delighted. Agent: Albert Lee, UTA. (July)
From the Publisher
Nothing is more annoying than knowing that a handsome movie star like Jay Ellis is also a talented writer. His debut collection of essays is so funny, poignant, and personal. I loved this and you will, too.”—Mindy Kaling, author of Why Not Me? and Nothing Like I Imagined
“Not only affirming but also transporting, a true beacon for both our younger and older selves who were once lonely, and perhaps are still lonely at times, but always capable of wielding our immense imaginations . . . This is a joyous, celebratory, fluorescent, and fully alive book.”—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America
“Heartwarming, heartbreaking, and seriously hilarious, this book is an ode to imagination—that which dwells inside all of us, waiting to run free. Jay Ellis has written a brave, necessary book, filled with coming-of-age stories packed with solid life lessons. I wish I’d read this as a young person, but am even more grateful to have found it as an adult.”—Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck
“Poignant and delightfully nostalgic with a perfect blend of humor and candid self-reflection . . . This is an essential reminder to nurture the worlds we build in our minds as children—and as adults, too.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, bestselling author of The Other Black Girl
“Pairing youthful exuberance with the nostalgia of a man looking back on his formative years, this book is told with verve, charm, and joy. By the time you finish, you’ll wish you had an imaginary friend like Mikey, too.”—Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of The American Daughters
Kirkus Reviews
2024-04-18
An award-winning Black actor reflects on growing up with an imaginary companion.
As Ellis, a star of the HBO show Insecure and other TV shows and films, recounts, he created his imaginary friend, Mikey, when he was a “behaviorally challenged” young boy. An only child who was also part of a military family, the author suggests that loneliness was not the only reason Mikey, who had all the cool Ellis did not, emerged. Equally important was his place as a Black boy in an alluring but dangerous world that bombarded him with “many mixed messages of how to be—what was cool, what was right, who to emulate, who to disavow.” At first, his parents, especially his mother, tolerated and even encouraged the imaginary friend play. However, that stopped when “Mikey got [Ellis] into a lot of trouble” by “encouraging” Ellis to play pranks like locking other children in the bathroom of a local youth center. Though Mikey sometimes made Ellis look “like I had a mental illness,” his imaginary presence allowed the author to lean into the performativity that helped him “not…give a f$*k,” tap into a latent talent for acting, and learn to feel more comfortable around other kids. Mikey all but disappeared in high school, when Ellis found camaraderie in band and especially basketball, which taught him skills like “listening…and knowing when not to try and muscle my way through something to prove I was right.” In turn, these lessons helped Ellis create the “masks” that afforded the kind of protection Mikey offered, not just from the pains of growing up, but from the racism that surrounded him in school and on the street. As Ellis explores a common childhood experience, he also offers insight into the power imagination holds for young people rendered especially vulnerable by race.
A funny, honest, and moving memoir.
