The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6’ 4, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Blac

You may know W. Kamau Bell from his new, Emmy-nominated hit show on CNN, United Shades of America. Or maybe you've read about him in the New York Times, which called him "the most promising new talent in political comedy in many years." Or maybe from The New Yorker, fawning over his brand of humor writing: "Bell's gimmick is intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women's issues as inseparable."

After all this love and praise, it's time for the next step: a book. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; left-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; white men; his up-bringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.

W. Kamau Bell is a sociopolitical comedian who is the host of the Emmy-nominated hit CNN docuseries United Shades of America. Before United Shades, Kamau was best known for his critically acclaimed but criminally short-lived FX comedy series, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. The series was nominated for both an NAACP Award and a GLAAD Award. Kamau is also the host of Kamau Right Now!, a public radio talk show that airs on NPR radio station KALW in San Francisco, and a cohost of the podcasts Politically Re-Active and the memorably named Denzel Washington Is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period.

Before pursuing a career in stand-up comedy, Kamau and his mom lived all over the country. He was born in Palo Alto, California, then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, then Boston, Massachusetts, then Chicago, Illinois, with several extended visits to his dad’s in Mobile, Alabama, mixed in for good measure. Today he lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and family.