num_pages: 288
description: From an inside peek at the inner workings of Hollywood to the backstage drama of Broadway, from a poignant look at the black upper class to an honest look at the WASP elite, this elegantly wrought memoir of an extraordinary family has something for everyone. Growing up with a black Auntie Mame-like mother (who performed with the likes of Lena Horne) and an Anglo sea-faring father, Susan Fales-Hill moved seamlessly between many worlds. But it was from her mother -- a woman who was dressed by Givenchy and sculpted by Alexander Calder, yet rejected by many a casting agent for her "dark," unconventional looks -- that Susan drew inspiration, particularly when she faced challenges in her own career as a television writer in Hollywood, a town that wasn't always receptive to positive images of people of color. As a result the two developed a bond that mothers and daughters everywhere will find inspiring. Both a universally touching mother-daughter story and a portrait of a dazzling American family, Always Wear Joy is a memoir readers won't soon forget.
language: English
title: Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful
titlecomplete: Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful
genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Memoir, Biography
ratings_count: 94
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
category: Nonfiction
publisher: Harper Perennial