Act Like You Got Some Sense: And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me

by Jamie Foxx, Nick Chiles (With)

Overview

From Academy Award-winning multi-talent Jamie Foxx, a hilariously candid look at the joys and pitfalls of being the father of two daughters.
 
Jamie Foxx is not only an actor, comedian, and musician, he's also starring in his most humbling and long-running role yet as father to two independent girls: Corinne and Anelise. While his daughters have very different views on the world, there is one thing they can agree on: Dad gets on their motherf***ing nerves. Though every day with his girls brings hurdles and hilarity, he's learned a lot along the way. 
 
In ACT LIKE YOU GOT SOME SENSE—a title inspired by his beloved and fierce grandmother—Jamie reveals his rocky parenting journey through priceless stories about the tough love and old-school values he learned growing up in the small town of Terrell, Texas; his early days trying to make it in Hollywood; and life after achieving stardom. You would think being an A-lister would ease his dad-duty struggles, but if anything, it has only made things more complicated. It seems that a teenage girl who just wants to blend in with her friends will not be excited to see her dad's flashy new convertible at the front of the carpool lane. 
 
Hilarious, poignant, and always brutally honest, ACT LIKE YOU GOT SOME SENSE is Jamie Foxx like we’ve never seen him before, dealing with problems he never imagined he’d have.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538719015
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,099,980
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jamie Foxx is an award-winning actor, singer, and comedian. His accolades include an Academy Award for Best Actor, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. He's also a Grammy Award-winning musician, having produced four albums that charted in the top ten in the United States. Foxx received rave reviews for his standout performance in the 2019 Warner Bros. courtroom drama, Just Mercy. He has two daughters, Corinne and Anelise, and currently executive produces and hosts "Beat Shazam" on Fox with the former.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Parenting … You Ain't Ready for It 1

Granny 7

You Better Recognize 17

Dad Rule No. 1: You Gotta Show Up 31

The Switch from the Switch 45

Snitches Get Stitches 57

The Gift that Keeps on Giving 63

Less Money, Mo' Problems! 77

It Takes a Village 91

Give It Up for Not Giving It Up 101

Getting to the Pearly Gates 113

New Dad 119

The Tale of Two Parties 135

Getting Roasted 143

Guns vs. Gucci 147

The King's Gambit 153

Love & Basketball & Knowing When to Keep Your Mouth Shut 163

That Good Old Family Drama 171

Now I'm Raising My … Parents?! 179

Billie Eilish also Raises My Daughter 189

Trippin' Out 201

Feminism, Realism, and a Little Pole Dancing 209

Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! 217

Acknowledgments 223

About the Author 225

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/30/2021

In this debut full of genuine reflection and heartfelt humor, actor and comedian Foxx riffs on parenting (“You ain’t ready for it”) and the life experiences that gradually helped shape him as a father. Raised by his grandparents, Foxx describes his “granny” as a suffer-no-fools individual whose “toughness... was practiced on strangers so she could give family the full treatment.” The wisdom she imparted—such as “You made your bed, now you gotta sleep in it”—would later have a profound impact on Foxx as he navigated his own uncharted waters through single fatherhood. Lessons in humility (which Foxx pokes fun at self-deprecatingly), perseverance, and common sense are just a few things he’s tried to impress upon his two daughters, who are 27 and 13. Foxx writes in a jovial manner, with jokes flying constantly: “Like many fathers of daughters... a boyfriend puts me on immediate high alert. I want to be courteous and gracious, but a part of me also wants to punch him in the throat for no reason.” Yet where this book truly excels is in its honesty, offering an intimate look past Jamie Foxx the famous actor to reveal a relatable figure with “two young girls... who don’t give a shit about any of that.” Fans and parents alike will get a kick out of this. Agent: Anthony Mattero, Creative Artists. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"In this debut full of genuine reflection and heartfelt humor, actor and comedian Foxx riffs on parenting (“You ain’t ready for it”) and the life experiences that gradually helped shape him as a father. . . Foxx writes in a jovial manner, with jokes flying constantly. . . Yet where this book truly excels is in its honesty, offering an intimate look past Jamie Foxx the famous actor to reveal a relatable figure."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Wise, joyful and hilarious."—People

"A practical, sometimes profane, always entertaining guide to the fine art of parenting."—Kirkus Reviews

"In cheerfully meandering stories, Foxx displays his comedic timing and pacing and is always entertaining, blending the folksy yet hard-edged wisdom of his adoptive grandmother with hard-won, more worldly "New Dad" sensibilities. . . Foxx's parenting-advice book is the equivalent of a vitamin-packed smoothie: sweet, fun, and easy to enjoy, full of slyly concealed nourishment and goodness."—Booklist

"Act Like You Got Some Sense—its title gleaned from a phrase his late grandmother Estelle told him often—hilariously and poignantly details [Foxx's] upbringing as well as his experiences raising daughters Corinne, 27, and Anelise, 13, while orbiting Hollywood as one of its biggest and hardest-working stars."—Men's Health

"[R]eally funny. . . If you weren’t already a fan [of Foxx], you’ll be one after reading this heartfelt and honest book."—CNN

"Foxx’s tales of fatherhood are heartwarming and humorous, and he offers sensible tips that serve as strong reminders of how to treat today’s youth with respect and patience. . . Foxx's many fans will embrace the opportunity to learn more about the enigmatic actor, and parents will appreciate his commonsense, relatable approach to raising independent humans." —Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2021

While it may seem strange to solicit parenting advice from a performer, Oscar-winning actor Foxx's tales of fatherhood are heartwarming and humorous, and he offers sensible tips that serve as strong reminders of how to treat today's youth with respect and patience. Foxx's deeply personal journey to success in both the performing arts and in fatherhood began with his own complicated family dynamics—basically abandoned as a baby by his young parents, he was adopted and raised by his maternal grandparents. Their tough-love philosophy, coupled with his grandmother's recognition of Foxx's talent and potential, set him on the path to success, he writes. Foxx achieved monumental success in stand-up comedy, television, film, and even as a Grammy-winning recording artist, yet he says that nothing fully prepared him for life as a single father of two daughters. In this book tackling everything from dating to sacrificing his social life, Foxx is surprisingly open about his own mistakes and reflective about his conflicted feelings toward his parents and his eventual reconciliation with his mother. VERDICT Foxx's many fans will embrace the opportunity to learn more about the enigmatic actor, and parents will appreciate his commonsense, relatable approach to raising independent humans.

Library Journal

Multitalented entertainer Jamie Foxx tells it like it is—with help from his oldest daughter, Corinne Foxx—in this funny, touching, and irreverent memoir narrated by himself. Corinne provides a humorously honest foreword with her perspective of her dad. Jamie uses a tender tone while sharing childhood stories about being raised by his beloved grandmother, and it underlines his vulnerability in not having known his own parents well until later in life. Jamie shares how his path to fame made it easier to provide for his family but more difficult to be present for them. Eventually, he corrected this and learned many lessons along the way. Hilarious impersonations of Oprah, Eddie Murphy, and other celebrities round out this heartfelt collection of stories from a Hollywood father. A.L.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile

Multitalented entertainer Jamie Foxx tells it like it is—with help from his oldest daughter, Corinne Foxx—in this funny, touching, and irreverent memoir narrated by himself. Corinne provides a humorously honest foreword with her perspective of her dad. Jamie uses a tender tone while sharing childhood stories about being raised by his beloved grandmother, and it underlines his vulnerability in not having known his own parents well until later in life. Jamie shares how his path to fame made it easier to provide for his family but more difficult to be present for them. Eventually, he corrected this and learned many lessons along the way. Hilarious impersonations of Oprah, Eddie Murphy, and other celebrities round out this heartfelt collection of stories from a Hollywood father. A.L.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2022 - AudioFile

2021-08-18
Academy Award–winning actor Foxx recounts raising two daughters in challenging times.

“Dad Rule No. 1,” writes the author, is simple: “You gotta show up.” His own childhood was marked by such presence. Following his parents’ divorce, he was raised by a grandmother who gave him the tough-love lesson “that you can entertain yourself on your own side of the street.” His daughters, brimming with self-confidence, take delight in testing him—e.g., when he asked 13-year-old Anelise to get off the phone for two minutes, to which she responded by setting a timer for precisely two minutes. “I don’t mean literally,” said Foxx. “Then you should say what you mean,” she replied. They also take pleasure in teaching him. “All grown people do is talk about people that are different,” asserts 27-year-old Corinne, arguing that her generation has no interest in making distinctions on the basis of sexuality, religion, or other dividing lines. Foxx rightly prizes the good sense and solid values he has instilled in his daughters, but he also notes that parents must push their children to explore the world and make ethical and moral decisions for themselves. “Just be careful if they go too far,” he adds, “because they might need an exorcism”—or, as when one of the children ate a pot brownie by mistake, a talking-down. A major part of the work of raising daughters, Foxx concludes, is to empower them, “which means being honest with them about the challenges they will face and showing them that they have the ability to overcome them.” It helps to have the financial resources that Foxx has acquired in his decades in Hollywood, but the lessons he imparts, both humorous and serious, are applicable just about everywhere.

A practical, sometimes profane, always entertaining guide to the fine art of parenting.

Kirkus Reviews