One night in 1979, a woman in a red beret rocketed to fame after performing two songs on Saturday Night Live: "Coolsville" and "Chuck E.'s in Love," the latter of which reached Number 4 on the Billboard hit list. The singer, Rickie Lee Jones, was a vital part of the burgeoning Los Angeles jazz pop scene, and would soon be pronounced the "Duchess of Coolsville" by Time magazine. This book is Jones's first memoir, in which she takes us along on her exceptional journey as one of rock's hardest working women, from her nomadic childhood though her tumultuous relationship with Tom Waits and her battle with heroin to her triumphant later years.

"Winding and leisurely, as rich and colorful as Jones's best lyrics…. A classically American picaresque."—NYTimes

"Men leave, fame fizzles, family breaks your heart … but Jones knows a good story and how to tell it."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)