Tyler Perry, The #1 Box Office Success, is Now The Nation's #1 Author

Tyler Perry, The #1 Box Office Success, is Now The Nation's #1 Author

Tyler Perry's First Book, Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings, Debuts at #1 on The New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller List

NEW YORK, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Tyler Perry, the ground-breaking and immensely popular playwright, director, producer and performer, has conquered the literary world at #1 on The New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list with his first book, Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life, published in hardcover by Riverhead Books on April 11, 2006. This blockbuster debut, which will appear on the April 30th New York Times bestseller list, is another example of how he has soared to the top of every facet of entertainment he has entered: from #1 movies (Diary of A Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion) to multi-million selling DVDs to sold-out national stage tours. Mr. Perry, a true renaissance artist, has proven once again that he is able to communicate his comedic brilliance and words of inspiration to expand his enormous popularity in whatever venue he chooses.

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Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings is currently the #1 selling nonfiction hardcover title at retail chains and at a number of independent bookstores across the United States and also reached #1 on Amazon.com as well as barnesandnoble.com, with more than 301,000 copies in print after only one week on sale. In addition, the book debuted today as the #1 hardcover nonfiction title on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list.

Tyler Perry said, "I'm really happy for the loyalty and continued support of my fans."

Geoffrey Kloske, Vice President and Publisher, Riverhead Books, commented, "This tremendous market reaction to Tyler Perry's extraordinary new book comes as no surprise. This is a great Riverhead success story and confirms our faith in Tyler's dynamic talents and his ability to connect with his ever-expanding audience on every level."

Mr. Perry shares his wise, endearing, and ferociously funny observations, advice, and beliefs in his book through the voice of his beloved character, Madea Simmons -- the irreverent, sharp-tongued, pistol-packing grandmother at the center of his back-to-back #1 hit movies, Diary of A Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion, multi-million selling DVDs and sold-out theatrical productions, including Madea Goes to Jail.

Major media appearances accompanied the release of Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings, with Mr. Perry interviewed on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and "The View," CBS-TV's "The Early Show" and "The Late Show with David Letterman," The Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club" (to be aired later this month) as well as PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show," WNYC-FM's "The Leonard Lopate Show" and NPR's "Morning Edition" and "Talk of the Nation." Last week, he also did a 30-market national television satellite tour and a 25-market national radio satellite tour.

Huge crowds of people of all ages have been turning out to see Mr. Perry in person. He recently held phenomenally successful autographing sessions at Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue and Hue-Man bookstore in New York City, the Borders bookstore just outside of Washington, D.C., and Wal-Mart in Atlanta. Other appearances include stops in Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Print coverage includes Entertainment Weekly (April 7 issue), Jet magazine (April 10 issue), Essence (May issue), Ebony (May issue) and The Charlotte Observer (April 15 issue), with much more to come.

Sean McDonald, Vice President and Executive Editor, Riverhead Books, was the acquiring editor of Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings. Tyler Perry is represented by Jay Mandel and Charles King of the William Morris Agency.

ABOUT TYLER PERRY:

One of America's most successful young playwrights, Tyler Perry is also a popular director, producer, author and actor, starring in his own productions, including the #1 hit movies Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion.

Within the span of only six years, Tyler Perry went from being homeless "out on the streets" to selling out theaters everywhere. He has accomplished this feat with not only one production, but with seven shows, having successfully toured the nation to standing room only crowds and thus creating a change in the history of urban theater. His most famous character, the gun- toting, wisecracking, brutally honest grandmother, Madea Simmons, has become as recognizable as Redd Foxx's Fred Sanford, Flip Wilson's Geraldine and any number of Eddie Murphy's creations.

Raised in New Orleans in an abusive household, Mr. Perry was inspired by Oprah Winfrey to write a series of letters to himself in 1992 in an effort to undergo a catharsis from his own childhood pain. Those letters would form the basis for his first hit musical, I Know I've Been Changed, a rousing stage play about adult survivors of child abuse. Mr. Perry continues to receive fan mail from people who talk about how seeing that show changed their lives.

In 1998, Bishop T. D. Jakes saw I Know I've Been Changed and tabbed Perry to help with the production of the Woman, Thou Art Loosed stage play -- which Perry helped rewrite, then produced and directed as well as handled everything from make-up to stage-managing and production design. The re-worked Woman, Thou Art Loosed production grossed more than $5 million in just five months, selling out in every major U.S. city and performing to standing room only crowds. In 2000, Bishop Jakes again asked Perry to work on his musical, Behind Closed Doors. Mr. Perry was ultimately nominated for four NAACP Theatre Awards for his production of this show.

Mr. Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself opened in the year 2000 to rave reviews and sold-out houses in New York, Chicago, D.C., Memphis, New Orleans and Atlanta. The production only played in five markets, yet grossed $1 million-plus. Perry was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role as Madea, becoming the first urban theater actor to be nominated for this prestigious award.

Mr. Perry's second independent but fifth touring project, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, opened to a full house in New Orleans in January 2001 and played to sold-out audiences everywhere. A year later, Madea's Family Reunion, a production in which Mr. Perry once again donned the Madea Simmons personae, began touring the country to sold-out shows. In January 2003, Madea's Class Reunion -- The Class That Had No Class, debuted to more standing room only crowds.

As a result of the success of the outspoken Madea character, Perry branched out further to portray more of life's ups and downs by shining the comedic spotlight on David & Tamela Mann in the 2004-2005 debut and tour of Meet the Browns. This play, not featuring Madea, generated overwhelmingly positive responses to another favorite character, Mr. Leroy Brown. Following the success of Meet the Browns, Perry began touring Madea Goes to Jail last year.

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin Books, The Penguin Press, Philomel, Plume, Puffin, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group (http://www.penguin.com/) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.

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Source: Riverhead Books

CONTACT: Marilyn Ducksworth, +1-212-366-2564,
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