New Nonfiction Paperbacks This Week:

How I Slept My Way to the Middle: Secrets and Stories from Stage, Screen, and Interwebs
by Kevin Pollak
Lyons Press
Trade Paperback

Kevin Pollak rose through the comedy club ranks at the feet of Don Rickles and Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson and George Carlin. Named one of Comedy Central’s Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians of All Time, he’s a killer impressionist—Falk, Shatner, Walken, Nicholson—a versatile actor with one of the most respected filmographies around, and an Internet pioneer. He’s done it all, and now he’s ready to spill the beans.

             Ballsy, hilarious, and revealing, How I Slept My Way to the Middle winningly combines never-before-heard stories featuring A-list entertainers with fan favorites and Kevin’s own thoughts about how he made it. He turned down his first invitation to do stand-up on The Tonight Show because he knew that he’d make a bigger impact if he sat on the couch next to Johnny. That huge risk—which paid off in spades—was just the beginning. Find out how he brought John Belushi to his knees, tortured Paul Reiser (twice), bamboozled Larry King, stole Alan Arkin’s soul, almost killed Warren Beatty, and sucked face with Robert DeNiro’s girlfriend. Now a new media entrepreneur, he’s laughing proof that if you follow your gut and believe in yourself, you can do anything you want—except have a rational conversation with Rip Torn, who’s an evil, paranoid $#!%.

Writing Is My Drink: A Writer's Story of Finding Her Voice (and a Guide to How You Can Too)
by Theo Pauline Nestor
Simon & Schuster
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"Theo Nestor is a writer who, I am positive, will be heard from," wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, and hear from her we do in this enthralling memoir that doubles as a witty and richly told writing guide. Yet the real promise in Writing Is My Drink lies in Nestor's uncanny ability as a storyteller and teacher to make sure we'll also hear from you, the reader. Brimming with stories from her own writing life, and paired with practical "Try This" sections designed to challenge and inspire, this disarmingly candid account of a writer's search for her voice delivers charming, wise, and often hilarious guidance that will motivate writers at every stage of their careers.

The Ultimate Book of Impostors: Over 100 True Stories of the Greatest Phonies and Frauds
by Ian Graham
Sourcebooks
Trade Paperback

Think You Know Who Your Friends Are?  

Think again... 

From Mata Hari to D. B. Cooper, history is littered with people pretending to be someone else. Some go undetected for years, cultivating their false identities so skillfully, even their spouses don't know. Other frauds go up in flames after one misstep. The Ultimate Book of Impostors presents the astonishing true stories behind over one hundred of the craziest and funniest phonies in history, including: 

•A fake French government official who managed to sell the Eiffel Tower—twice 

•One of the Wild West's toughest and more admired "male" stagecoach drivers, who was actually a woman! 

•An Israeli Mossad team that stole the identities of real British and Australian citizens to trap an unsuspecting target for assassination 

Packed with fun facts and outrageous accounts of fake pilots, phony princesses, imitation Indians, and serial sham artists, this irresistible book exposes the truth behind the world's wildest fraud—and why they did it—and reveals that even those we think we know best may not be exactly who they seem.