Tremendous

Crime meets Too Fat to Fish with the mad flavor of The Corporation in the highly anticipated debut memoir by Joey "Coco" Diaz. Born in Havana in 1963, Joey is brought to New York City as a toddler when his single mother flees Cuba under an alias after killing her sister's rapist. As she pursues her American Dream opening a bar and a bookmaking operation, Joey struggles to find his place as an immigrant in the world of violence, drugs, Santeria, and bolita depicted in The Corporation (DiCaprio/Del Toro film forthcoming). At age 6, he's dealing, holding guns, and finding dead bodies. At 16, he finds his mother dead while high on acid, and that's when his life goes off the rails. Years later, after starting stand-up comedy in prison while doing time for kidnapping a man with a machine gun, he now stars in hit films, podcasts to millions, sells out tours, releases #1 albums, and attends PTA meetings as father to a young daughter. Known for giving street-savvy advice via jaw-dropping true stories, fans and fellow comics affectionately refer to him as Uncle Joey (also the working title of his TV show, which sold at auction to Fox). IMMIGRANT MENTALITY (80,000 words anticipated) is Joey's term for his mother's work ethic, the fire of being an outsider who must work harder than everyone else. Themes explored include the alienation of immigrants, the pain behind addiction, second chances, and what it means to be family.