ABRAMS TO PUBLISH JOHN LEGUIZAMO’S GHETTO KLOWN
New York, New York – April 3, 2014 – ABRAMS is proud to announce the Spring 2015 publication of acclaimed actor, screenwriter, and producer John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Klown under the Abrams ComicArts imprint. The book is a graphic adaption of his award-winning one-man Broadway show, which recently aired as an HBO comedy special to high ratings. It shares a hilarious and touching roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of Leguizamo’s personal and professional life and features the vivid characters who have populated his story. Not wanting to just share this story verbatim in words, Leguizamo has teamed up with the artist Christa Cassano to transform it into an engaging graphic memoir. Executive editor David Cashion signed the deal with Leguizamo’s literary agent, Anthony Mattero of Foundry Media.
“Ghetto Klown is the history that I probably never should have told anyone but my therapist, but it’s a real lesson that even if you suffer a certain amount (a lot) of self-doubt and anxiety, you can still accomplish great things. It’s a lesson I’m really excited to impart to a whole new audience and in a whole new way with the help of artist Christa Cassano and Abrams Books. My life’s work took me my whole life to figure out, but, hey, better late than never,” says Leguizamo.
Leguizamo has graced film, television, and Broadway to commercial and critical acclaim. He has also written and performed other successful, award-winning one-man shows, including Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama, Freak, and Sexaholix… A Love Story,all of which were adaptedasHBO specials. Leguizamo was recently seen in John Favreau’s Chef, which debuted at SXSW in March, and appeared in the hit feature film Ride Along, starring alongside Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. Leguizamo’s other film credits include Walking with Dinosaurs, The Counselor, Kick-Ass 2, Love in the Time of Cholera,Vanishing on 7th Street, The Lincoln Lawyer, the Ice Age franchise, The Happening, Summer of Sam, King of the Jungle, Spawn, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Dr. Dolittle, Carlito’s Way, and Casualties of War.
Christa Cassano is a Brooklyn-based artist and member of Hang Dai Studios in Gowanus. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and in Italy. Since attending the 2012 Graphic Novel residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Cassano has been self-publishing her own stories, as well as collaborations with Dean Haspiel and Seth Kushner’s comix neurotica SCHMUCK.
