In a collection of personal essays that are “both rip-roaringly funny and sentimental, drawing natural (and justified) comparisons to David Sedaris and David Rakoff” (Esquire), longtime documenting artist and actor Sam Harris recounts stories of friendship, love, celebrity, and growing up and getting sober.

In 16 brilliantly observed accurate tales, Sam Harris emerges as an all natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but using a voice about Ham: Slices of a Life: Essays and Tales uniquely his own. Praised from the Chicago Sun-Times for his “manic, witty commentary,” and having a storytelling talent THE BRAND NEW York Times calls “New Yorker- worthy,” he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure shows from his very own colorful lifestyle. In “PERSONALLY I THINK, You Feel” he starts for Aretha Franklin throughout a blizzard. “Guarantees” is definitely a front-row account of Liza Minnelli’s infamous wedding ceremony to “the person whose name shall go unmentioned.” In “The Zoo Tale” Harris frantically searches for a common connection with his rough-and-tumble four-year-old son.

What better place to find painfully funny materials than in growing up homosexual, gifted, and ambitious in the heart from the Bible belt? And that’s just the initial cut: From partying to parenting, from Sunday school for you to get sober, these slices of Ham will have you laughing and wiping away salty tears in equivalent measure with their general and down-to-earth appeal. After all, there’s a little ham in every of us.