Cack-Handed

The producer and writer of the CBS hit series "I Heart Abishola" tells the story of growing up as the child of Nigerian immigrants in London and her career as a stand-up comic and eventual Hollywood success. From birth, Yashere carried a birthmark on her neck: a sign to her family that she was her grandmother's chosen heir and would fulfill Patience's dreams of learning to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man's job, and travel the world with a free spirit. Growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working-class London, she become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world. Going through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist coworkers, she eventually left engineering to become one of the top stand-up comics in the UK, before moving to the US. Here Yashere reveals how her unconventional upbringing became the foundation of her successful career. -- adapted from jacket