Introduction

Finalist for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature

Finalist for a 2018 Southern Book Prize for Biography and History

“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

"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, Pat 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 memoir 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.

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of August 2017: In many ways Patricia Williams’ has led an extraordinary life. Raised in a family of alcoholics and hustlers, she was at ground zero when the crack epidemic of the 1980s hit the impoverished neighborhoods of inner city Atlanta. Her mother taught her to roll drunks by the time she was eight; if they were hungry enough she and her siblings would go to the ER and wait for the candy stripers to come through with sandwiches for waiting families. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In the third grade Williams—nicknamed Rabbit—first saw the possibility of a different life, thanks to a teacher who took a sympathetic interest. But the rules and role models in the rest of her world had a stronger pull, and soon enough Williams began to model the success she saw every day—in the drug dealers. As you read Williams’ memoir it’s impossible not to be shocked and bewildered. But you will also feel compassion. And Williams not only allows you to laugh, she makes it damn near impossible not to. Her wit and levity, hand-in-hand with hardship, mistakes, and self-discovery, makes Williams’ memoir, Rabbit, impressive and memorable. --Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review

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