Music to My Years

A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up

Cristela Alonzo

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2019
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501189227
• Index: Social Sciences

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).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction – In the Beginning …
• Chapter 1: Boston – “More Than a Feeling”
• Chapter 2: Lionel Richie – “Say You, Say Me”
• Chapter 3: ‘The Golden Girls’ – “Thank You For Being a Friend”
• Chapter 4: Billy Joel – “Only the Good Die Young”
• Chapter 5: Selena – “Dreaming of You”
• Chapter 6: Tangerine Dream – “Loved by the Sun”
• Chapter 7: Backstreet Boys – “Shape of My Heart”
• Chapter 8: ‘Evita’ – “And the Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)”
• Chapter 9: Ice Cube – “It Was a Good Day”
• Chapter 10: Eminem – “Lose Yourself”
• Chapter 11: Ricky Martin – “Livin’ La Vida Loca”
• Chapter 12: A Tribe Called Quest – “We the People”
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright