Woke Up This Morning

Michael Imperioli is best known for his starring role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, which earned him an Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy Award. He also wrote five episodes of the show and was co-screenwriter of the film Summer of Sam, directed by Spike Lee. Imperioli is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes, and the short story 'YASIRI' in the anthology The Nicotine Chronicles, edited by Lee Child.

Steve Schirripa is well known for playing fan-favourite character Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos, and currently as Anthony Abetemarco on the long-running hit CBS series Blue Bloods. He is also The New York Times bestselling author of six books, include A Goomba's Guide to Life and the young adult novel Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family, which was made into a film for Nickelodeon and starred several Sopranos alum.

'I will be reading and rereading Woke Up This Morning ....These rollicking gabfests... bring together nearly everyone, on screen and off, who made the series a creative and cultural landmark. The freely offered admiration expressed by so many for their missing comrade and unofficial cast captain, Gandolfini, makes these stories about playing tough guys all the more tender' New York Times

'Ever wished you could hang out with the cast and crew of The Sopranos and just listen to them trade stories? ... There are plenty of tantalizing bits of trivia-Tony was Tommy Soprano in the pilot script; producers wanted Lorraine Bracco to play Tony's wife, but she said she would only consider playing Melfi, the psychiatrist-but this isn't just a trivia collection. Mostly it's about friends and colleagues getting together to pay tribute to one another and to a series that rewrote many of the rules of television. Love and respect for the show's star, the late James Gandolfini, permeates the book, as does admiration for the show's creator, David Chase, who started with a vague idea about a crook and his mother and built it into something that's almost Shakespearean in its thematic scope. For Sopranos fans this one is an absolute must-read' Booklist

'Essential for fans, with a revelation on every page ... Devotees will revel in the stroll into series minutiae' Kirkus Reviews

'A spectacular tell-all about the making of the Emmy-winning hit television series ... What makes this sing is the passion and energy brought by Imperioli and Schirripa and its indelible tribute to the late James Gandolfini. As Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano) recalls, 'He was there for you no matter what.' This is the ultimate book on The Sopranos, made by the people who lived it' Publishers Weekly