Brilliant at times, nonsensical, poorly written and (sometimes) funny, I Am the New Black is about what you’d expect from a Tracy Morgan autobiography. Each moment of candidness (the cessation of his relationship with his mother) and tragedy (the AIDS-related death of Morgan’s father) is matched by a reflective moment in which Morgan passes on a life lesson to his fans. The book is uneven, picking up steam when Morgan writes frankly about aspects of his life that fans want to know about—his time on SNL and his less-than-shining past—but then slams into a wall when Morgan tries to impart his wisdom. An entertaining read, but only finishable by Morgan fans.
This article appears in Feb 11-17, 2010.
