NEW YORK, August 2 – Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will publish THE BOOK OF LEON: Philosophy of a Fool by Leon Black, it was announced today by Jennifer Bergstrom, Publisher.

Leon Black—portrayed by JB Smoove on the Emmy®-nominated hit HBO® comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm®—has got a solution to every goddamn problem, especially the ones you didn’t even know you had. In THE BOOK OF LEON, Black will share his precious wisdom with all you fools—from wife insurance to skin care (white people only) to helping you decide whether you should Uber pool or Uber X, depending on your level of inebriation.

Black says, “The other day a friend of mine, one of those annoying types, always whining and shit—I don’t want to name names, but just to put a theoretical face to him, let’s just say he’s a white man with glasses, balding, and old as all hell—anyway, this annoying ass friend of mine was like, ‘Leon, you talk so much, why don’t you just go write a book!’ Now, I don’t know if he was trying to throw shade on me or not, and, to be honest, I don’t care because, I flip things. I turn negative to positive! I look at that shriveled-up old man’s word as a challenge and wrote this damn book!”

“I truly believe that Leon Black may be the future face of self-help, God help us all. Let me put it this way: He doesn’t give good advice, or bad advice, but rather bad-good advice that will have you doubled over with laughter,” said Bergstrom.

JB Smoove, who has played Leon Black on Curb Your Enthusiasm since Season 6, is a gifted writer, comedian and actor, who continues to entertain audiences all over the world with his unique brand of comedic funk. He has appeared on The Chris Rock Show, starred in the cult classic movie Pootie Tang, was a cast member on Cedric the Entertainer Presents, and was a writer for Saturday Night Live (for which he won a 2007 Writers Guild award). His standup has been featured on numerous late night shows and he was the host of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. His MSG show, Four Courses with JB Smoove, is in its fourth season. On the big screen he has appeared in the films Date Night, Hall Pass, We Bought a Zoo, Barbershop 3 and others, and his voice has been featured in Ice Age 4 and The Smurfs 2.

THE BOOK OF LEON is scheduled for publication on October 24, 2017, shortly following the highly anticipated Season 9 premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO.

 

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GALLERY BOOKS is an imprint dedicated to publishing a variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics. Launched in February 2010, Gallery is designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction genres. Some of Gallery Books’ bestselling titles include The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer, The Woman in Cabin 10 and In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, Binge by Tyler Oakley, Selp Helf by Miranda Sings, Five Presidents by Clint Hill, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Love Anthony by Lisa Genova.

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Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Touchstone, Adams Media, Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com

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