exploring books | HOW Y’ALL DOING?
Southern to the Core Pam Windsor Photography Credits: Book cover – CJ Armenta Blue shirt photos – Courtesy of FOX-TV’s “Call Me Kat” Emmy photo – Leslie Jordan Gold suit – Miller Mobley
Actor Leslie Jordan asks ‘How Y’all Doing?’ in his humorous, conversational memoir. Leslie Jordan is quirky, funny, and one of the most familiar faces in entertainment. He has a long list of TV, movie, and theater acting credits, but may be best known for playing Lonnie Garr on “Hearts Afire” and his Emmy-winning role as Beverley Leslie on “Will & Grace.” The Chattanooga, Tennessee, native also has a gift for telling great stories and his book, “How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived,” is full of them. “The thing about Southerners, I don’t know what it is, but we just love stories,” Jordan says. “You know, at family reunions people sit around and say things like, ‘Run get your Aunt Nita in the back room and have her come up here and tell us that story we love so well.’” His writing style is open, honest, and conversational, guiding readers throughout the book as he shares short, insightful accounts of acting or auditioning experiences, interactions with celebrities like Carrie Fisher, Jessica Lange, Lady Gaga, Martin Mull, Dolly Parton, as well as some personal stories and life lessons. Each one is written with heart, humor, and Jordan’s own unique take on what’s happening around him at the time. The idea to write “How Y’all Doing?” came during the pandemic. Jordan, who lives in Los Angeles, returned to Chattanooga to stay with his mother and sisters during the lockdown. With so much downtime, he soon became bored and started posting humorous, off-beat videos on Instagram. 30 DeSoto
Although relatively new to the social media platform, he quickly built a huge following. “I posted something,” Jordan says. “I don’t know which one it was, and a friend called me and said, ‘You’ve gone viral.’ I said, ‘No, honey, I don’t have COVID.’ And he goes, ‘No, not that viral. You’ve gone VIRAL.” Jordan soon had more than 5 million Instagram followers. His sense of humor in sharing bits and pieces of what was happening in his everyday life was resonating with a lot of people. “Harper Collins came to me and said, ‘We love your Instagram posts, and we want to set you up with an editor,” he says. He began writing and found he enjoyed the process. “I had the best time,” he says. “It was such a joy to write, a wonderful experience.” Jordan goes from one entertaining story to the next with chapter titles ranging from “The Time Debbie Reynolds Called My Mother” to “America Horror Storytime” to “The Mississippi Delta,” and more. He takes an easy-going, no-holds barred approach, whether he’s sharing memories about his time spent in Greenwood, Mississippi, shooting scenes for the
