NORMAN MATHEWS was born in the wrong town, the wrong era, and with the wrong name. What’s a boy to do? He conjured up a more enticing, imaginary world to better navigate the perils of childhood. Dreams of a life in the theater and of passionate romance were stymied by lack of self-assurance. Psychological abuse by a priest led to absurdly comic psychotherapy over his sexuality. At age twenty, a failed suicide nearly shattered a promising future. From the ashes of this calamity rose a staggering resolve to build a meaningful life. Byzantine twists paved the way to a career as an editor and eventually a life as a Broadway dancer. As a performer, he worked with Barbra Streisand, Dorothy Lamour, and Gene Kelly. After an untimely injury, he reinvented himself as a pianist, composer, and playwright, for which he created award-winning works for top Broadway and concert-stage performers. His passionate and inspirational autobiography is steeped in dark humor, hilarious celebrity gossip, and backstage intrigue. He brings his colorful Sicilian-American family, his triumphs and heartbreaks, and his mine-strewn path to fulfi lling love vividly to life. This riveting drama is a paean to all late-bloomers, proof that no matter how many wrong cards you are dealt, it’s possible, with hope and tenacity, to come up with a winning hand