Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer

(Book). Chely Wright, singer, songwriter, and country music star, writes in this moving, telling memoir about her life and her career; about growing up in America's heartland and about barely remembering a time when she didn't know she was different. The youngest of three children, Wright would ascend the ladder to the top of the country-music world, only to find herself trapped in a place she hadn't foreseen, but had to face. From high-school homecoming queen to successful recording artist with her first hit single, "Shut Up and Drive," Wright's journey was dictated by keeping the truth of who she was closeted in a world in which country music stars had never been and could not be openly gay. Working with the biggest names in Nashville, she navigated these treacherous waters until the charade took too great a toll. Ultimately, as she reveals in this candid and outspoken work, Wright found the courage to untangle herself from the image of the country music star she'd become, an image steeped in long-standing ideals and notions about who and what a country artist is, and what fans expect that artist to be.