A hilarious, heartfelt memoir from one of Australia’s most adored performers

Funny, feisty and fabulous, 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 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 heart-felt. The stuff of life.

Try Hard is her story.

Because she is. And she does.