Few people possess the ability to write exactly how they speak. Craig Ferguson does. The Late Late Show is performed every night without a written monologue but instead a set of notes as an outline. His monologues often achieve a level of laugh-out-loud-at-your-television-set moments not achieved by other shows, with jokes from Michael Franti and Spearhead’s “Say Hey I Love You” performed with puppets and recurring cast members to an ongoing joke about Salvador Dali. His new memoir, American On Purpose, captures his voice as his audience knows him, precisely while discussing alcoholism, divorce, rehab, and eventually a rise to fame.

Craig’s alcoholism and drug use is an open topic on his show, as is his being a high school drop-out. The book provides the format to show the width of his character and the magnitude of his previous issues with drugs and alcohol. “People still ask me how much did I drink every day, and the answer is, I don’t know. I didn’t keep a journal. There is no tally sheet because it wasn’t fucking Weight Watchers. I drank what I had to, every day. That’s how much I drank. And here’s the sneaky part: It’s not linear.” Craig’s story is a refreshing reminder that sometimes life experience comes at an unbelievably high price, and sometimes what is learned from having a problem is far more precious then what can be bought by the highest bidder. While Craig drank, he was also a drummer for The Dreamboys. He decided to drop out of school and pursue a career in punk music, only after being greeted with fierce corporal punishment and negligence within his school system.

After The Dreamboys broke up, Craig’s not-gay roommate Robbie introduced him to a girl named Anne. Anne was to be his landlady, but he saw it more fit to marry and move to New York City with her. This was Craig’s second trip to the United States. The first was for a family vacation when he visited Smithtown, Long Island, and on the way home told his father, “One day, I’m gonna live in New York, Dad.” Craig and Anne moved into the East Village and he got a construction job. And, like almost every immigrant who lives in New York, he worked long hours. “I had to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. to get to Harlem in time for work, and Anne pulled ten-hour shifts, but we were happy enough. I was too physically exhausted at the end of a workday to throw myself too much into drinking, and after a couple of beers, I was out. Unloading and carrying Sheetrock all day was my first rehab.”

Craig Ferguson (Getty Images)

Craig did get to rehab back in the U.K. after divorcing Anne and leaving New York City, but he did not leave without first becoming interested in theater. While in New York, he was in a play, and once back in the U.K., he developed the character Bing Hitler for a gong show. During the rise of Bing Hitler, Craig “toured Australia with an all-girl Jewish singing group called The Hot Bagels, and of course ended up having an affair with the Everything Bagel.” He also was cast in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, once he got back from tour, in the role of Brad Majors. He believed the time warp would have a stabilizing effect on his life because it was a steady job.

After sobering up, he returned to performing and “It seemed that I performed better sober then drunk. Who knew?” In 1994, at the Edinburgh Festival, Craig met American talent agent Rick Sigel, and his ascent began. He returned to America, and his path included projects such as Saving Grace and Modern Vampires. But his break came one day when he decided to go in and audition for the part of a Latino photographer on Suddenly Susan and was greeted with the part of Nigel Algernon Wick instead. While on The Drew Carey Show, Craig managed to write a novel: Between The Bridge and the River.

Then he competed with fifty other people for his current job hosting The Late Late Show. He thinks, “A late-night talk show host is supposed to be cool. I am not, for a second, suggesting that I am cool. I am a middle-aged white man with graying hair, a thickening waist, and a creepy laugh. That is not cool.” Every night on his show, Craig says, “It’s a great day for America.” It is the one line that never changes.  His memoir is a must-read, not just for fans of his show (who will love it), but anyone who wants a character they can root for, a Hollywood ending, a writing that performs off the page.