Rabbit: A Memoir

Finalist for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature

Finalist for a 2018 Southern Book Prize for Biography and History

"An absolute must-read" – Shondaland

“[Rabbit] tells how it went down with brutal honesty and outrageous humor” – New York Times

“I know a lot of people think they know what it’s like to grow up in the hood. Like maybe they watched a couple of seasons of The Wire and they got the shit all figured out. But TV doesn’t tell the whole story.” – Ms. Pat

They called her Rabbit.

Patricia Williams (aka Ms. Pat) was born and raised in Atlanta at the height of the crack epidemic. One of five children, Pat watched as her mother struggled to get by on charity, cons, and petty crimes. At age seven, Pat was taught to roll drunks for money. At twelve, she was targeted for sex by a man eight years her senior. By thirteen, she was pregnant. By fifteen, Pat was a mother of two.

Alone at sixteen, this single teen mom was determined to make a better life for her children. But with no job skills and an eighth-grade education, her options were limited. She learned quickly that hustling and humor were the only tools she had to survive. Rabbit is an unflinching and inspiring true story of cinematic scope and unexpected humor. With wisdom and humor, Pat gives us a rare glimpse of what it’s really like to be a black mom in America.

How does a girl who became a mother of two by fifteen, with only an eighth-grade education, find the strength not only to survive the crack epidemic but to build a new life?

• Brutal Honesty: From watching her alcoholic mother’s petty crimes to her own time selling crack, Ms. Pat lays out the unflinching reality of her past with no filter.
• Outrageous Humor: Discover the comedy that became a survival tool, finding laughs in the darkest situations and turning a life of pain into a career on stage.
• A Story of Resilience: Shot twice, a mother at thirteen, and facing a world of limited options, this is the story of a woman who refused to be a victim of her circumstances.
• From the Hood to the Suburbs: Follow Ms. Pat’s improbable path from the inner city of Atlanta to a six-bedroom house in Indianapolis and a new life she built for her family.

Born and raised in Atlanta at the height of the crack epidemic, Patricia Williams (aka Ms. Pat) watched as her mother struggled to raise five children on charity, cons, and petty crimes. At age seven, Pat, known as Rabbit, was taught to roll drunks for money. At twelve, she was targeted for sex by an older man. By thirteen, she was pregnant. By fifteen, Pat was a mother of two. Alone at sixteen, Pat was determined to make a better life for her children. But with only an eighth-grade education, she had limited options. She learned quickly that hustling and humor were the only tools she had to survive. Rabbit is an unflinching memoir of cinematic scope, wisdom, and unexpected humor that gives us a rare glimpse of what it’s really like to struggle and thrive in America.

“Amazing stories of perseverance, survival, transcendence…mind-blowing.” - Marc Maron

“Ms. Pat, gives readers insight into what it’s really like to be young black woman growing up in America.” - TODAY.com

“People say “I laughed and I cried” and it sounds like a cliché. But Rabbit really took me there. It’s everything—poignant, heartbreaking and hilarious—all at once. I couldn’t put it down.” - Lee Daniels, creator of Empire

“Both savagely honest and often genuinely funny, this is the story of how a resilient woman survived a harrowing early life and found unexpected salvation through humor.” - Kirkus

“Not only is Ms. Pat FUNNY as hell, she also understands how comedy is the most powerful weapon on earth against sorrow and inequity. But it wasn’t until I read Rabbit that I discovered how much she’s really been through. Ms. Pat survived PTA meetings and getting shot. That’s some real-ass shit!” - Roseanne Barr

“Rabbit feels like you are sitting in Williams’ living room, listening to her tell story after story over a cup of coffee. Somehow she’s managed to pull hilarity out of heartache. And when you are done laughing, you rejoice, her final words ringing in your ears.” - USA Today

“An extraordinary memoir…[Rabbit] is both uproariously funny and heartbreakingly sad… Despite all the difficult parts, Ms. Pat’s story reminds us that redemption is always possible, and that love and humor can heal all wounds.” - Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

“Her story is one that dares everyone reading it to dream bigger.”  - Bust Magazine

“As heartbreaking as it is darkly hilarious, Rabbit will make you wipe away both tears of joy and sorrow...a memoir filled with wit and wisdom...Honest, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny, Williams’ book is an absolute must-read.” - Shondaland

“I pounced on [Ms. Pat’s] book. And I thought she did such a great job...God, [Rabbit] was entertaining. And I recommended it to so many people.”  - David Sedaris, author of the New York Times bestseller Calypso

“Like Ms. Pat, I grew up in the hood during the crack epidemic, but I’ve never read anything like Rabbit. I didn’t know a story this sad could make me laugh so hard. That’s the comic genius of Ms. Pat!” - Loni Love, co-host of The Real

“She was able to elevate her personal stories of horror, sadness, violence, insanity into something that people can understand and relate to and see into a world that many of us don’t know.”

“Riveting…this is one autobiography that should not be missed.” - Huffington Post

“This is, in short, a humdinger of a memoir – mesmerizing” - Buffalo News

“Rabbit tells how it went down with brutal honesty and outrageous humor in unexpected places.” - New York Times

“Unforgiving and darkly hilarious.” - Washington Post