Photos: Harvey Fierstein Celebrates Release of New Memoir, 'I Was Better Last Night'

I Was Better Last Night, the new memoir by cultural icon, gay rights activist, and four-time Tony Award®-winning actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein is now available on Alfred A. Knopf. Check out exclusive photos from inside the release party at Cafe Fiorello!

Fierstein's poignant and hilarious new memoir reveals never-before-told stories of his personal struggles and conflict, of sex and romance, and of his fabled career which has transported him from community theater in Brooklyn to the lights of Broadway, to the absurd excesses of Hollywood, and back.

He has received accolades and awards for acting in and/or writing an incredible string of hit plays, musicals, and television shows: Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof, Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, "Cheers," La Cage Aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy, Newsies, Kinky Boots, and this spring's eagerly anticipated Broadway revival of Funny Girl. While he has never shied away from the spotlight, Fierstein says that even those closest to him have never heard most of the tales revealed in these wildly entertaining pages.

I Was Better Last Night bares the inner life of this eccentric non-conforming child from his roots in 1952 Brooklyn, to the experimental worlds of Andy Warhol and the Theatre of the Ridiculous, to the gay rights movements of the seventies and the tumultuous AIDS crisis of the eighties, through decades of addiction, despair, and ultimate triumph.

Fierstein's candid recollections provide a rich window into downtown New York City life, gay culture, and the evolution of theater (of which he has been a defining figure), as well as a moving account of his family's journey of acceptance. I Was Better Last Night is filled with wisdom gained, mistakes made, and stories that come together to describe an astonishingly colorful and meaningful life. Lucky for us all, his unique and recognizable voice is as engaging, outrageously funny, and vulnerable on the page.

Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas