“How I LOVED this book! It was smart, insightful and so, so FUNNY…” —Nora Ephron

“A knock-out, truthful peek into what it’s like to be an actress. It’s funny, chatty and smart.” —Isabel Gillies, author of Happens Every Day

“For anyone who has ever been this close to landing that big jump to success only to find themselves flailing on the ice with a caboose full of pain and humiliation, Nancy Balbirer—the lost love-child of Augusten Burroughs and Anaïs Nin—is the new BFF you’ve always wanted.  A wise, hilarious, seen-it-all, been-there-done-that-and-I’m-all-better-now Hollywood confessional, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry packs enough wit, chutzpah, humanity and karmic Krazy Glue to convert your old, shattered hearts and dreams into an attractive lamp—one that illuminates a real, unimpeachable human destiny.” —Cintra Wilson, author of A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Reexamined as a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations and Colors Insulting to Nature

Without sparing the embarrassing details, Balbirer chronicles the two decades she spent as a struggling actress in the trenches of show business. From the searing purist tutelage of David Mamet at NYU Drama School ("In show business, women who are lucky enough to find employment are asked to do only two things in every role they ever play: take your shirt off and cry") to her bizarre 1 AM Saturday Night Live audition for Lorne Michael, Balbirer recounts her sometimes disappointing, sometimes painful, and always bizarre adventures. Among the stories in Take Your Shirt Off and Cry is "Friendly Fire," which is about Nancy's friendship and eventual falling out with a good friend who went on to become a huge star with a top-rated sitcom. Fame may not have knocked on her door, but it certainly slept on her couch. Take your Shirt Off and Cry is an utterly engaging, deeply personal, and absurdly comic memoir from a one-of-a-kind talent.

“This funny, bravura memoir describes life as a young actress, and all the "head-banging frustration, demoralizing options, and bewildering compromises" that come with it...a read this witty, reflective and charming takes real talent; if there's any justice, that talent will find the fame it deserves among the book buying public.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review 

“...Balbirer revels in her failure in this witty, poignant, exceedingly well-written memoir chronicling the ups and downs (mostly downs) of a trained, hardworking actress who always seems on the cusp of greatness but who nevertheless always fails to make the grade... —Booklist Starred Review

  “I never thought I’d get to read a memoir about a life in show business that is not only funny and dishy, bursting with heartbreak and joy, but also – is it possible? – completely honest. Nancy Balbirer is a wonderful writer.” —Mark Childress, author of One Mississippi and Crazy in Alabama

“Finally, an honest memoir of the acting business. This belongs in the canon of Hollywood Truth-Telling Greats. Take Your Shirt Off and Cry is crazy funny, heartfelt, and wise.” —Mike Albo, author of Hornito: My Lie Life and The Underminer: The Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life

 "Sexy and wise are qualities that don't always go together, but they perfectly describe Nancy Balbirer's extremely funny and boldly honest memoir."

—Charles Busch, actor, playwright, novelist