Dirtbag Queen

In this “utterly unhinged, hilarious” memoir, a son pays tribute to his larger than life ‘zaftig good time gal’ mother and his unusual childhood (Jenny Lawson, New York Times bestselling author).

“Because she was my mother, the death of zaftig good-time gal Renay Corren is newsworthy to me, and I treat it with the same respect and reverence she had for, well, nothing. A more disrespectful, trash talking woman was not to be found.”

So began Andy Corren’s unforgettable obituary for his mother, Renay Mandel Corren, in her hometown paper The Fayetteville Observer, a tribute that went on to touch the hearts of millions around the globe. In his brief telling of the life and legend that was Renay, a “loud, filthy‑minded (and filthy‑mouthed) Jewish lady redneck who birthed six kids,” Andy captured only a slice of his loving and fabulously unconventional mother.

His obituary for Renay was just the tip of the iceberg. In this uproariously funny, deeply moving family portrait, readers meet the rest of his absurd clan: his brothers, affectionately nicknamed Asshole (whose terrible attitude permeates every room he enters), Twin (held back a year and constantly mistaken for Andy despite the fact that they look nothing alike), and Rabbi (the only one who had a Bar Mitzvah); his one-eyed pirate queen of a sister, Cathy Sue (a teen bride who lost an eye to a Pepsi bottle); and then there’s the mysterious Bonus, who Andy isn’t aware of until later in life since this mysterious oldest brother grew up at the Green Valley School for Emotionally Disturbed and Delinquent Children.