Includes index

Nobody Ever Wanted It More -- Dying Is Easy. Comedy Is Hard -- Dicks and Balls -- Stardom and Wifedom -- Westward Ho -- The First Lady of Comedy -- Victim as Enforcer -- The Temptation of Joan -- A Thankless Child -- Debacle -- Recovery -- Reinventing a Career -- Art and Commerce -- Home Sweet Versailles -- High Society -- But Is It Good for the Jews? -- Men Are Stupid -- Back to the Top -- Fashion Forward -- Daughter Dearest -- The Time of Her Life -- The Final Mountain -- Grand Finale -- Legacy -- Updates from the Afterlife

"Joan Rivers was more than a legendary comedian; she was an icon and a role model to millions, a fearless pioneer who left a legacy of expanded opportunity when she died in 2014. Her life was a dramatic roller-coaster of triumphant highs and devastating lows: the suicide of her husband, her feud with Johnny Carson, her estrangement from her daughter, her many plastic surgeries, her ferocious ambition and her massive insecurities. But Rivers' career was also hugely significant in American cultural history, breaking down barriers for her gender and pushing the boundaries of truth-telling for women in public life. A juicy, intimate biography of one of the greatest comedians ever-a performer whose sixty year career was borne, simply, out of a desire to make people laugh so she could feel loved-LAST GIRL BEFORE FREEWAY delves into the inner workings of a woman who both reflected and redefined the world around her,"--Amazon.com