Music to My Years - by Cristela Alonzo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This memoir is "an emotional journey that will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between" (Wanda Sykes) as it explores comedian, writer, and producer Cristela Alonzo's childhood as a first-generation Mexican American in Texas and her dreams to pursue a career in comedy.

When Cristela Alonzo and her family lived as squatters in an abandoned diner, they only had two luxuries: a television and a radio. These became her pop cultural touchstones and a guiding light that ushered her forward.

In Music to My Years, Cristela shares her experiences and struggles of being a first-generation American, her dreams of becoming a comedian, and how it feels to be a creator in a world that often minimizes people of color and women. Her stories range from the ridiculous--like the time she made her own tap shoes out of bottle caps or how the theme song of The Golden Girls landed her in the principal's office--to the sobering moments, like how she turned to stand-up comedy to grieve the heartbreaking loss of her mother and how, years later, she's committed to giving back to the community.

Each significant moment of the book relates to a song, and the resulting playlist is deeply moving, resonant, and unforgettable. Music to My Years is "a timely reminder that regardless of economic status, race, or gender, love is the connection that ties together all humanity" (Booklist).

Review Quotes

"I loved the book. Cristela vividly enlightens, educates, and entertains us on her hard journey from the poverty and culture of the Mexico-Texas border to stardom, honestly sharing her life lessons and the music that sustained her. [This is] a story that will guide us to want to be as strong, compassionate, and visionary as she is for family, friends, and country. Music is such a big part of one's life. When we stood on the picket lines, we sang 'We Shall Overcome' and 'This Little Light of Mine' a thousand times from the early morning till the strikebreakers left the fields. There is so much to say about the book, it affirmed my life in many ways, as I am sure it will for so many Latinas. We are alike." --Dolores Huerta

"Alonzo crafts a humorous writing style that feels like an intimate conversation with readers. The jokes jump off the page and provide an emotional relief to the harsh realities of hardship and poverty she experienced. Alonzo's memoir is a timely reminder that regardless of economic status, race, or gender, love is the connection that ties together all humanity." --Booklist

"Cristela brings her signature humor to bear as she offers a brilliant and touching reflection on how the personal is political. It is no coincidence that after ruminating on themes that include identity, representation, and inequality, she caps off the book with a fierce defense of our democracy and the people whom it is meant to serve. I was inspired by her story of political awakening and hope others will read this and deepen their own political activism." --Julián Castro

"Cristela's real life evolved into her comedy and her comedy informed her sense of right and wrong--but more than anything, Cristela has remained real and funny. Read the book. You'll understand." --Whoopi Goldberg

"If Chance the Rapper and Cristela the Comedian had a baby, it would be this book. Cristela's memoir is an emotional journey that will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between. As the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own prime-time show and who found success despite all the challenges she faced, Cristela will have you continually rooting for her. Also, all the songs she name-drops are real bops." --Wanda Skyes