Jimmy Carr's mix of memoir and self-help manual goes to Quercus

Quercus will publish Jimmy Carr’s mix of memoir and self-help manual, Before & Laughter: A Life-Changing Book, in September 2021. 

Before & Laughter will tell the story of Carr’s life while also explaining how readers can turn their own life around and become what they have always dreamt of being, said the publisher. 

The blurb explains: "In his mid-twenties, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn’t exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This book tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes.

"Written to take advantage of the brief window between the end of lockdown and Jimmy getting cancelled for saying something unforgivable to Lorraine Kelly, this book is as timely as it is unnecessary. Because you might be interested in Jimmy’s life but he’s damn sure you’re a lot more interested in your own, Before & Laughter is about both of you. But mainly him. It tells the story of Jimmy’s life – the transformation from white-collar corporate drone to fake-toothed donkey-laugh plastic-haired comedy mannequin – while also explaining how to turn your own life around and become the you you’ve always dreamt of being. At just £20, it’s cheaper than Scientology, quicker than therapy, and significantly less boring than church."

Non-fiction publisher Katy Follain acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Hannah Chambers at Chambers Management.

Carr commented: "I don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver, but this really delivers on the subtitle ‘A Life Changing Book’. It’s definitely the best cash-in autobiography by any popular British comedian born between 1972 and 1974 ever. That’s if you don’t count the Peter Kay one. Because that was proper good."

Follain said: "I am over the moon to be working with Jimmy Carr. Before & Laughter is a blend of self-help and memoir. It’ll appeal not only to his huge army of fans, but to anyone who feels stuck in a rut, or who needs to shake things up but hasn’t quite got the tools or self-belief to do so."