“A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much” — Cynthia Erivo
In 193 brief pages, multi-awarded singer Cynthia Erivo shares how her childhood and challenges shaped her art and asks the reader to share theirs.
“The seeds of who we truly are often are found in the memories of what we loved as a child. Take a moment and think of what you wanted to be when you grew up, of the thing that made you happiest before the world got involved.”
Early in her training, Cynthia faced numerous detractors who wanted to tamp her down.
“I’d always felt different, but now it felt less like a feeling and more like a fact….Was actively overlooked. I kept my own counsel and did my work but was awash in loneliness and confusion.”
Cynthia writes eloquently about her struggles with: her father, training, finding parts, vulnerability, anxiety, queerness, authenticity, trust, and animosity.
Cynthia gleaned wisdom from finally attaining success and fame as she shares so many quotable quotes.
“Those who are afraid to approach the fullness of their own humanity are often threatened by those of us who are not. We can’t let that stop us.”
She guides aspiring artists with the same questions she faced as she sought to define herself and her dreams.
“Are there any areas in your life where you’ve limited yourself?”
“What’s the dream you don’t even know you have?”
It’s never easy when you don’t blend in with the crowd. But Cynthia wanted to be so much more.
“We can triumph even when others don’t get us. We have that power.”
Simply More – A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much
By Cynthia Erivo
Hardcover, 193 pages, 2025
Flatiron Books (Macmillan)
