And Give Up Showbiz? How Fred Levin Beat Big Tobacco, Avoided Two Murder Prosecutions, Became a Chief of Ghana, Earned Boxing Manager of the Year, and Transformed American Law

In the early '90s, Big Tobacco was making a killing. There was no entity more powerful, and national tobacco-related deaths numbered in the hundreds of thousands each year. The economic loss from smoking-related illnesses was billions of dollars. And yet, Big Tobacco had never paid a nickel in court.

Until one Southern, small-town lawyer figured out how Florida could sue Big Tobacco to reimburse the state for health care costs. The end result? Beyond the $13 billion settlement, hundreds of thousands of American lives have been, and will continue to be, saved.

Meet Fred Levin. Called by his own son “a philanthropist and a cockroach," Fred Levin is no ordinary attorney, and his remarkable story is far from squeaky clean.

In And Give Up Showbiz?, New York Times bestselling author Josh Young works closely with Levin to give readers a glimpse into the extraordinary and entertaining life of the top trial lawyer who was a pioneer in establishing American personal injury law. Seen as an inspiring innovator by some and a flamboyant self-promoter by others, Levin has not only fought against Big Tobacco, he has won victories for women, African Americans, and workers everywhere.

Levin's unprecedented legal career is just one aspect of his roller-coaster life story. From managing one of the world's greatest boxers to avoiding multiple disbarment attempts, and from becoming a chief in the country of
Ghana to even being a person of interest in two separate murder investigations, his story reads like a novel suitable for the silver screen. And Give Up Showbiz? is both shockingly candid and wildly funny.

Josh Young, a bestselling author and journalist for the past quarter-century, specializes in co-writing books with notable leaders in their fields and celebrities. He has co-authored seven national best-sellers, including five New York Times best-sellers. He co-authored Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel's Here's The Deal: Don't Touch Me; Bob Newhart's landmark comedic memoir, I Shouldn't Be Doing This; actor/Fox TV commentator Wayne Rogers' iconoclastic business book, Make Your Own Rules: A Renegade Guide To Unconventional Success; actor Jim Belushi's Real Men Don't Apologize; and comedian Jay Mohr's Gasping For Air Time: Two Years In The Trenches of Saturday Night Live. He is also the co-author with Dr. Sam Parnia of the New York Times best seller Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting The Boundaries Between Life And Death; and of The Link: Uncovering Our Oldest Ancestor with Colin Tudge,Young has written for numerous publications, including for two years at The New York Times, a year for Esquire as a contributing writer, for three years at LIFE Magazine, for five years at Entertainment Weekly as a contributing writer, and for four years at John Kennedy's George as a contributing editor. Young has appeared on several national television shows, including: The Today Show, ABC's World News Tonight, The O'Reilly Factor, Entertainment Tonight, PBS, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and Rivera Live.