Almost Grown: A New York Memoir

Jesse Malin

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Book cover for Almost Grown: A New York Memoir
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Book cover for Almost Grown: A New York Memoir
Image for variant 9781636142876

Almost Grown: A New York Memoir

Almost Grown: A New York Memoir

Jesse Malin

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Description

ALMOST GROWN IS A RAW, HONEST, AND OFTEN FUNNY ACCOUNT of how a hyperactive kid from Queens made his dreams come true--and the hustlers, sweethearts, misfits, and lifelong friends he met along the way. With Malin as its streetwise narrator, the book has more in common with The Basketball Diaries or Just Kids than with a standard rock memoir. Although music is at the core of Malin's soul, Almost Grown welcomes the reader into the tumultuous inner world of a boy from a broken home determined to create a life he could love.

In 2023, Malin was struck with a rare spinal stroke that paralyzed him from the waist down. The longtime runner and vegetarian went public with this news--and his fierce resolve to walk again--in an interview with Rolling Stone. The story was picked up by the New York Times, People, CNN, Variety, the Los Angeles Times, and other outlets worldwide. The massive outpouring of love and support culminated in the release of Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin--with twenty-eight celebrated artists covering his songs to raise money for his recovery. On December 1 and 2, 2024, Malin gave his first public performances since his stroke, taking the stage for two sold-out concerts at New York's Beacon Theatre.

Critical Reviews

Almost Grown stands toe to toe with The Basketball Diaries as a story about growing up in New York--Lucinda Williams

Only a brave artist can rise above the burden of being born one to become a truly great one. And no amount of method acting will ever replace a life of true grit spent with outlaws, poets, drunks, clowns, swindlers, and wild dreamers. If an army is only as strong as its soldiers, then New York City music will always be a genuine threat with Jesse Malin and his endless positive mental attitude on the front line. PMA, rastas!--Jakob Dylan

Jesse Malin's new memoir is raw and sweet and gritty--and surprisingly gripping. I've long been a fan of Jesse's music, but I knew next to nothing about the man behind the songs until I read the dramatic and poignant NYC tale of his rise.--Harlan Coben, author of I Will Find You

Jesse Malin's story about a dreamer who never gives up on his dreams is riveting, hilarious, and deeply touching. He writes straight from the shoulder, pulls no punches, and always tells the truth. It's one helluva ride.--Jon Landau, author of The Bigger Picture

Singer-songwriter Malin debuts with a gritty chronicle of his artistic coming-of-age . . . The narrative is framed by Malin's survival of a rare spinal stroke in 2023 that sent him to Buenos Aires for stem-cell therapy and arduous rehab--an ordeal that captures the resilience he displays several times throughout the memoir. Malin's prose style is raw, and he loves a name-drop, but his affectionate portrait of a vanished New York and the community that sustained him will resonate with artistically minded readers. It's a tuneful self-portrait.-- "Publishers Weekly"

[M]uch of [his memoir] is devoted to growing up in New York and New Jersey and the many people, 'the beautiful characters, ' he has met and lost along the way . . . Almost Grown is full of anecdotes of life lived on the edge and opening for or touring with the likes of Green Day and the Ramones.-- "Booklist"

New York City is the center of the universe, and there is no New York City without Jesse Malin.--Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day

Publishing Information

Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
Pub date: 2026-04-07
Length: 272 pages

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