Out of the Corner cover art

Out of the Corner

A Memoir

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Out of the Corner

By: Jennifer Grey
Narrated by: Jennifer Grey
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About this listen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply candid and refreshingly spirited memoir of identity lost and found from the star of the iconic film Dirty Dancing

“A funny, dishy, occasionally heartbreaking coming-of-age story.”—The New York Times

“Savage and engaging . . . Grey’s memoir is interesting not only for her journey out of darkness but also for what her story reveals about what women encounter in the entertainment business, and the fortitude required to make it.”—The Washington Post

In this beautiful, close-to-the bone account, Jennifer Grey takes listeners on a vivid tour of the experiences that have shaped her, from her childhood as the daughter of Broadway and film legend Joel Grey, to the surprise hit with Patrick Swayze that made her America’s sweetheart, to her inspiring season eleven win on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Throughout this intimate narrative, Grey richly evokes places and times that were defining for a generation—from her preteen days in 1970s Malibu and wild child nights in New York’s club scene, to her roles in quintessential movies of the 1980s, including The Cotton Club, Red Dawn, and her breakout performance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. With self-deprecating humor and frankness, she looks back on her unbridled, romantic adventures in Hollywood. And with enormous bravery, she shares the devastating fallout from a plastic surgery procedure that caused the sudden and stunning loss of her professional identity and career. Grey inspires with her hard-won battle back, reclaiming her sense of self from a culture and business that can impose a narrow and unforgiving definition of female worth. She finds, at last, her own true north and starts a family of her own, just in the nick of time.

Distinctive, moving, and powerful, told with generosity and pluck, Out of the Corner is a memoir about a never-ending personal evolution, a coming-of-age story for women of every age.

©2022 Jennifer Grey (P)2022 Random House Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Gender Studies Celebrity Inspiring Witty

Critic Reviews

“What is truth? How does someone make sense of their life lived through a public lens? In Out of the Corner, Jennifer Grey peels back all the artifice, denial, obfuscation, and myriad assumptions and exposes a gorgeous, human portrait of her life, hard lived-in and fiercely fought for. Her chapter titles alone show the insights and whimsy that she brings to her memoir, along with the shattering public and private struggles and successes. It’s miles deep, sharply personal, bracingly honest—and if there’s anybody who deserves to step out of the corner into the light of her mind and indomitable spirit, it’s Jennifer Grey.”—Jamie Lee Curtis

“We all know Jennifer Grey as a talented actress, but Out of the Corner introduces us to a gifted writer. In reading her memoir, I understood the passion, love, and loss that has given shape to her life’s journey. Her narrative is nuanced, her words carefully chosen for maximum impact. She shares achingly human moments, like what it was like as a little girl to watch her father, the iconic Joel Grey, as he applied his greasepaint before taking the stage in Cabaret. Out of the Corner is a revelation, a work of emotional generosity and personal courage. It’s sneaky brilliant. Love it and love Jennifer. Baby got Book.”—Michael J. Fox

“The Dirty Dancing star cracks open her turbulent past in this searing and heartfelt debut . . . Grey emerges as a resilient star in her own story, candidly sharing with readers all her joy, confusion, and hard-won wisdom along the way. Fans won’t want to miss this.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What listeners say about Out of the Corner

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Surprising memoir that was engaging from the first line!

Excellent narration that made her life story such a joy to listen to! Love the humour in the story and her honesty.

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Whoa Baby!

Absolute delight to listen to Jennifer’s story. What a ride she’s had and continues to have. Beautiful voice, accent and precision of speech. Wonderfully expressive language. Thank you for sharing JG 🙏🏻 May YOUR ride continue to slow xx

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Nobody puts Baby in the Corner!

Fabulous!
Unexpected story, read so well…
Got chills when she spoke of Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze…

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Always consider the person, not the media driven persons

Loved the insight into the person, and how we should focus on living our own best lives, and don’t judge others.

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Please give it a go!!

Initially I was apprehensive about reading a memoir of an actor I didn’t really like although that impression was based on what the media had fed me.
Some memoirs are a bit “woe is me”
I was surprised and grateful to have read this. It’s an honest account of her life’s story told with positivity.

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So good!

If you loved Jennifer Grey in Ferris Buellers Day Off and Dirty Dancing or just a good Hollywood story, then you'll love this!

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Excellent modern memoir

A strong and focussed look at the times of her life! Warts and all! Recommended

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A little too stream of consciousness

While it was interesting enough, the book. especially the final two chapters which should have been edited out- felt a little too “I’ve never been to me”

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Great book.

Loved listening to Jennifer Grey narrating this warts and all book. Well worth listening to.

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3.5 stars

3.5 stars
I started reading this book for no real reason. I usually like a good celebrity memoir. I don't know a lot about Jennifer Grey but what I do know her from, what most of us probably know her from, is Dirty Dancing.

I started watching Dirty Dancing when I was a child-probably 10 or 11- and I have very good memories of it. I loved the movie as a child and I love the movie as an adult. As an adult I got to experience the story in a whole new way, as I begun understanding what was actually happening. When I was a child I certainly didn't know that Penny had a botched abortion. I wouldn't even know what an abortion was.I also didn't know that Jewish people couldn't go to regular summer resorts, and that was just another theme that added another layer to the movie.

Let's back up a bit because this book isn't about Dirty Dancing, it's about the actress Jennifer Grey. Now, Jennifer Grey was born to two successful people; her father was a successful actor and her mother was an actress who took a step back when she had children, to be a mother and a wife. Jennifer grew up watching her father’s success and decided that from a very young age that she wanted to be an actress.

Jennifer had quite an interesting life as a child moving backwards and forwards several times from the east and west coast, following her father as he alternated between Broadway and Hollywood. Jennifer admits that she struggled moving between various schools, and I can relate to this. As a child I moved around multiple times and it becomes very difficult to form lasting friendships when this is when this happens. You start to think that to relationships are temporary and it becomes hard to form meaningful attachments because it is hard when you leave.

Jennifer is very open about her sexual her sex life. It's quite awkward when a woman in her 60s talks about how ”horny" she was. This is something she describes quite often in the book, and how horny she got over some boys. Jennifer also discusses how she was sexually assaulted as a young girl by someone in grandparent’s apartment building when she was a young girl. No-one believed her because he was a “good guy”. Actually maybe her dad believed her but he said, could you blame him with how “squishy” you are or how wet you are or something like that. I can't remove the exact words. It's interesting how many actresses in their memoirs discussed sexual assault, is this something they all have? Do you have to go through that sort of trauma to be able to engage in Hollywood?

Jennifer starts off by talking about her nose and her failed nose job. At the beginning, I didn't really understand the relevance of this to the book but it becomes a little bit more apparent. First of all, Jennifer is pretty convincing in the idea that she wasn't unhappy with her nose, but she realised it was stopping her from getting jobs because she looked too Jewish. She decided to change her nose, but she was still unable to get work because she was essentially unrecognisable. It is interesting that after Dirty Dancing I can't really think of any thing that Jennifer is in. Which is crazy considering how successful that film was.

Jennifer is very open about some of the different relationships in her life; with Johnny Depp, Matthew Broderick, her husband Clark Gregg, Billy Baldwin and others. She goes into a lot of detail about her relationship with Matthew Broderick and discusses how she never realised he was cheating on her, this is also another thing that I've noticed in female celebrity memoirs. She discusses how they met and goes into a lot of detail about the trauma she dealt with after the car accident she was in where Brodrick ran head on into another car in Ireland killing two women. She talks about how in there weeks that Dirty Dancing was released she was suffering PTSD and struggling to cope. She also discusses how Brodrick was unwilling to attend promotional functions with her even before he was injured and discouraged her from going. I'm glad that Jennifer's mother convinced her to be a part of all of this because it would be tragic if you gave up your moment in the sun for a man who had been cheating on you for your whole relationship.

I enjoyed Jennifer discussing her relationship with Tracy and her husband Michael J. Fox and how her and Tracy had been true friends since meeting in school. I also enjoyed Jennifer discussing her time on Dancing with the Stars and dancing for the first time since Dirty Dancing and how successful she was.

It's interesting how Jennifer discussed how she never really wanted to be like her mother estate her mum, she wanted to be like her father a successful actress. But the most joy she experienced was as a mother and a wife. Not a bad read overall. :)

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