Try Hard: Tales from the Life of a Needy Overachiever (Extra Sass Edition)

Now with extra sass – three fabulous new chapters – the bestselling laugh-out-loud memoir of one of Australia’s most adored performers on stage and radio.

Funny and feisty, Em Rusciano’s insights into her world of mayhem, marriage and motherhood are a laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud balm for the soul.

From her exploits at the Miss Sheila Fancypants School of Dance and her efforts to secure a solo at her end-of-year performance, to embracing the spotlight as an Australian Idol contestant and her deep and abiding love for John Farnham, Em Rusciano is a self-confessed bottomless pit of anxiety with a taste for glitter.

And behind the stage make-up Em is an overachiever of epic proportions, camp to the core and fiercely maternal. She has all the insecurities of a person who spends their nights racked with self-doubt and all the confidence of a woman who can walk out onto a stage in front of a sold-out theatre and absolutely slay the crowd. Em has an army of gay men she adores, tells the best dirty jokes and loves those closest to her ferociously. When the chips are down you definitely want her by your side.

This all-singing, all-dancing, all-emoting, leopard-print clad warrior is fearless, fabulous and pants-wettingly funny. Her words on the page are silly and sacred, bawdy and heartfelt. The stuff of life.

Try Hard is her story.

Because she is. And she does.

About the Author

Em Rusciano is a bestselling writer, comedian and singer, and breakfast radio host on Sydney’s 2DayFM with on-air partner Harley Breen. Em is known for her performances on Australia Idol, her podcasts, her sold out stand-up shows around the country, and for winning the ‘Most Annoying Person’ award at her Year 12 graduation ceremony. She collects owl figurines (157 of them to be exact), as a child wanted to marry Kevin Arnold from The Wonder Years, and can’t stand the sound of people chewing. Em hopes to one day reside in a large house on a hill, have 34 dogs and live exclusively on cheese and gin. She may or may not have already made a start on that last part.