In the vein of works by Gary Janetti and Danny Pellegrino, an honest, funny, and heartfelt memoir-in-essays about chasing your dreams, making big messes, and finding yourself along the way.

In in his debut book for adults, Jeffery Self invites readers into his world, taking them through the usual foibles of gay adolescence, amplified in the vast wasteland of the American South and the odd characters who peopled it, from shoddy community theater productions to underage drinking with Broadway stars, from downtown comedy rooms to adventure-filled bedrooms. Along the way, he shares his experiences of acting in TV and film, touring live comedy around the world, getting booed off gay cruise ships, a tenure in the “oldest profession,” meeting his heroes, falling in love, getting his heart broken, breaking other people’s hearts, being hated, hating himself, and on the best of days, finding stuff to like about himself, too.

Self-Sabotage is a deeply personal and intimate exploration of Self’s life, filled with humor, heartache, and a hearty dose of bipolar disorder. It asks the profound question of how you become the person you want to be when so much of yourself is a secret—and how you learn to accept yourself when it’s not. It is also, of course, side-splittingly funny.