Comedian Chris Rock is writing book on race
Chris Rock, the Emmy-winning comedian and an Oscars host, has been talking about race and relationships since he began doing standup in the 1980s. Those who haven’t seen him onstage will soon be able to read his thoughts in My First Black Boyfriend, a collection of his essays set for publication in 2020.
“A lot of celebrities write books, and they don’t always have something to say. I think Chris Rock has something to say,” said Deb Futter, senior vice-president and co-publisher of Celadon, which is publishing the book. The essays, she added, “point out things that maybe need to be pointed out in our crazy world”.
Celadon, a division of Macmillan, declined to make Rock available for an interview.
During his 2017 “Total Blackout Tour”, the comedian was candid about his recent divorce and the role he played in the breakdown of his marriage. “At times, Rock sounded like a man confessing his sins, turning vulnerability into his latest provocation,” Jason Zinoman wrote in his review in The New York Times of a performance in Durham, North Carolina.
Rock, 54, joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1990 and appeared in the final season of In Living Color as a special guest star. His first HBO special ran in 1994, followed by Bring The Pain
in 1996, for which he won two Emmy Awards. He has produced and directed both TV (The Rundown With Robin Thede, Everybody Hates Chris) and film (Top Five, I Think I Love My Wife) and will appear in the Eddie Murphy movie Dolemite Is My Name
next month.
His first book, Rock This! came out in 1997 and was a New York Times bestseller. Rock wrote about several of his favourite topics at the time, including President Bill Clinton and the O.J. Simpson saga, as well as racial dynamics in the United States and the differences he sees between men and women.
The news of Rock’s collection comes at a time of heated debates over what lines comedians can and cannot cross. Last week, Shane Gillis, a newly announced SNL cast member, was criticised for making racist comments directed at Chinese people and using a racial slur on a podcast. Gillis responded on Twitter, saying: “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss.” On Monday, SNL
said he would not be joining the show.