AVAILABLE JULY 1, 2026!
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For over a decade, actor Corey Maher has worked on big-budget blockbuster movies and Emmy Award–winning television shows, alongside some of Hollywood’s most prestigious talent. But after experiencing a devastating accident on set, Corey now faces his most challenging role yet as he is forced to explore the strength and depth of his own character throughout his recovery.
In The Backstory, Maher rewinds the reel on fifty years of family, friendship, failure, and show business. From his Midwestern roots - including a near-death encounter with a flying shovel - to haunted houses, heavy metal aspirations and stage fright, this is a book that doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Just some damn good stories.
Told with unfiltered honesty and a wicked sense of humor, The Backstory isn’t a self-help book on how to make it in Hollywood (thank God). It’s a raw look at a life full of wrong turns, hard lessons, and the challenging moments that can pull us forward.
Because life doesn't come with a script.
Just veiny arms and chest hair.
Don't let the smile fool you. I was not always the charming and seemingly sweet boy pictured here. I didn’t like school and often faked being sick to get out of going. I got into a few scrapes, played with gunpowder, launched roman candles at my friends and stole candy bars from the neighborhood convenience store.
I was the kid who shot out his neighbors’ window with a BB gun and was a constant labor of patience and worry to his poor mother.
In my youth my imagination ran wild. All I wanted to do was play and escape the tedium of life. Fantasies and nightmares, both figurative and literal, defined my formative years, culminating in an existential crisis at 11 years old.
My childhood was pretty awesome now that I look back on it.
I eventually got down to brass tacks but it wasn’t without considerable effort. With unwavering determination, and oftentimes blurry focus, I managed to find some discipline in my life. This has helped me maintain an equitable balance between the mundane responsibilities of my existence and the natural thirst I have to simply play and escape it all.
I’ve experienced marginal success in my creative endeavors and have been fortunate to taste some truly fine wine. However, I’ve also tasted some detestable cocktails with too heavy a pour of physical or emotional trauma.
At some point in life, everyone asks themselves the big questions:
Who am I?
How did I get here?
Why did I once think an earring was a good idea?
This book is my Backstory. An in-depth character study of the people, places, and Oh Sh*t moments that have shaped my life and carved out who I am today. Told with plenty of sarcasm, self-deprecation, and just enough bad decisions to keep things interesting.
There’s plenty of nostalgia here. Like most GenXers, I’m an analog kid who somehow evolved into a cloud-based digital world. I have a passion for music, movies and the kind of intellectual freedom (and danger) that defined my generation.
There are stories about friendship, first love, ghostly encounters, and the kind of questionable decisions that somehow didn’t kill me, but definitely left a mark.
But underneath the jokes and wisecracks is something a little quieter. A slow realization that life isn’t nearly as long as I thought it would be - and maybe I shouldn’t be taking it quite so seriously… or waste it quite so carelessly.
This isn’t a guidebook. There’s no blueprint for success. No life hacks. Nobody is waking up at 4 a.m. to journal and drink a protein shake.
I think you’ll like my story. You might laugh more than you expect. You might relate more than you’d like. And if nothing else, you might walk away and begin thinking about how you’d write your own story.
Corey has spent his life in pursuit of creative expression. He is a professional actor, screenwriter and author who enjoys playing the guitar
Corey lives in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) with his wife, Rebekah, and dog, Johnny Cash.
