ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Cedric The Entertainer is returning back to his hometown of St. Louis Saturday to host a book signing event at the Hi-Pointe Theatre with the release of his new book inspired by his grandfather.
The Berkeley High School graduate, and one of the original "Kings of Comedy" released his new book "Flipping Boxcars" which is a homage to both his grandfather Floyd Boyce and his love of 1940s crime novels.
"It's loosely based off my grandfather who was raised in the boot hill Missouri, was a businessman, entrepreneur, had a restaurant, nightclub, but also live in the underworld," said Cedric the Entertainer, who is using his real name Cedric Kyles for the book, "I would take some of these family stories and created a fictional world to tell a whole idea what life would be like."
The story takes place in Caruthersville, Missouri(where Cedric was born) with the main character named Pops and he works to try and make money during the most turbulent times such as the Great Depression and World War II.
Cedric told Total Information A.M. that the most enjoyable part of writing the book was painting the full picture of his grandfather, who he never met. Boyce died years before Cedric was born. The only way he knew about his grandfather was from a single photograph of him in uniform serving during World War II and countless family stories passed down to him.
Cedric says he felt even more closer to his grandfather after doing research for the book, who he wrote along with Alan Eisenstock.
"I saw this connection especially as I was doing the research, but this connection from the things I learned about him and the spirit of who he was, is that here was two generations later, that his grandson is actually able to live the life that he visualized himself to be," said Cedric The Entertainer.
Cedric The Entertainer will host a book signing event for his new book at the High-Pointe Theatre Saturday at 7 p.m.. He will also be apart of a discussion on his new book with host G'Ra Asim. For tickets to the event and those who are interested in purchasing the book, you can click here.
