The Softer Side of Griffin in "The Official Book Club Selection According to Kathy Griffin"

Let me say it upfront, I am very “meh” about Kathy Griffin. Most times I find her to be annoying and think that her schticks are obnoxious bordering on rude. Still, she can get a chuckle out of me even if I don’t want her to. I basically got this book because of my partner who is a bit more of a Kathy fan than I am. However, once we started listening to it together, I just couldn’t stop! As far as celebrity tell-all, humor memoirs, go...this is the best of the bunch!!

You know Kathy, she’s the annoying redhead who did too much plastic surgery, stormed out of the Emmy’s, and brought Bristol Palin’s baby daddy to a red carpet event. She can be annoying times ten but what this memoir shows is the softer side of Griffin; the woman who took two gay men who were kicked out of the military because of DADT to a red carpet event. However, this is not a sappy memoir where you find out that the wicked witch of the west has a heart. No. This is a truthful history of Kathy that is narrated by herself and she does what few people (especially celebrities) do...she writes about her flaws.

She brings the reader back to her younger years when she worked various jobs, none of which were on comedy, and took years to barely get noticed. She describes her rise to almost fame and the people who helped her get there. But she also talks about her closest friend who committed suicide, her severely troubled brother, and her ill fated marriage. She lays bare the truth about her plastic surgery, speaks of her regrets, and makes the reader chuckle while feeling her pain. This memoir is incredibly well down in the way that few memoirs are these days. Equal parts humor and heart-wrenching, Griffin does not disappoint. Even if you’re not a fan, try this book...it may change the way you think.

Astonishment At "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

 There is little I can add to the cacophony of reviews that are already out there. Still, I have to gush about how wonderful this book is. I am typically a fiction reader but often  dip into nonfiction as long as it proves to be interesting and insightful. This seemed like it would be right up my alley, but I shied away from it because there seemed to be so much hype surrounding it. I dislike hype, on principal and try to stay away from most bestseller lists. Actually, I picked this book by default because the audiobook was in my partner’s car. Halfway through the first disc, I was completely enthralled. I even crossed state lines to go to a bookstore and buy a paperback copy so I could read it 24/7. After I finished it, I wanted to so back and read it all over again!

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about this book. Still, I’ll give you a brief overview just in case you’ve been trapped in a time capsule. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who lived in Maryland when she felt a hard ball on her cervix. Having no health insurance and little money, she went to Johns Hopkins where they removed her tumor and took some of her cells for future testing. However, the doctors did this without anyone’s knowledge or approval. Though Henrietta eventually died from this cancer, her cells became the first immortal cells. Since her death, they’ve been used in thousands of experiments in numerous field. Though people have made millions on Henrietta’s cells, her family saw none of the money and still has no health insurance.

Killing of Cancer Cell

What makes this book so fantastic is that the author takes a holistic approach to her writing. She doesn’t simply focus on the science of the cells but spends an equal amount of time on Henrietta’s family and their history. This adds an emotional edge that left me crying at times, which a book strictly on cells would never do (unless I was crying with boredom). The most exceptional aspect of the book is how well researched it is. Clearly, Henrietta’s family has been misrepresented since the 1950s. Fortunately, the author took years to get to know the family, understand their plight, and write objectively. I could ramble on for pages and pages but I will end by saying this: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is by far one of the best books I have read in my entire life (and I read a lot).

Sh*t My Dad Says: Even Funnier When Heard

When I was driving across the country this summer, I tried to find audiobooks that would make me laugh and keep me awake. I took a chance on this book because I had heard some of Halpern’s one liners and they made me giggle. After reading the back, it didn’t sound like there was much to this book but I hoped that at least it would keep a smile on my face. Fortunately, Halpern far surpassed my expectations!

As I am sure everyone knows by now, the book is based on Halpern’s tweets regarding his father. He reached over a million followers on Twitter and decided to take his cyper writing to the published page. In addition to his father’s quips, Justin also tells about how he found himself living in his parents’ house at the age of 28. Though Justin’s father is gruff, he clearly has great love for his son.

What is so refreshing about this memoir is that it’s not your typical memoir. Recently, memoirs have been very “in” but typically focus on drug addicted, alcoholic, quasi-celebrities who turn their lives around and make good. Halpern’s is a breath of fresh air!

Memoir of Hollywood Horrors You WON'T Find on A&E

Today seems to be the era of the memoir and while I adore reading, I do not also adore  memoirs. However, I am always willing to be proven wrong and recently...I have been proven wrong many many times! I was on a memoir high when I decided to take a stab at this one. The synopsis that the published released sounded very appealing to me because it sounded a great deal like mine and my mother’s life with some of our relatives. I found a great deal of closure in this memoir for myself and even lent the book to other members of my family. Unfortunately, for the average memoir-reader, I don’t know that this book would be that appealing.

To say that the author Laurel Saville had a tumultuous relationship with her mother, Anne, is to say that the Crusades were unpleasant. Laurel begins her mother’s story by telling of Anne was found murdered in possibly sexually assaulted in an abandoned building in West Hollywood. Upon hearing this news, Laurel decides to shelf the matter as dealing with her and her mother’s past will only hurt Laurel. When Laurel’s father becomes ill, she finally decides that it is time to come to terms with her mother’s death and her life. Laurel decides to research her mother’s murder and in doing so pulls the curtain back on her own damaged childhood. She writes about the long line of destructive and abusive men that tramped through her mother’s life; the fluctuating emotions that her mother had when drinking (and she was always drinking); and her inevitable decision to move to the other side of the country in hopes of releasing herself from her mother’s grasp. Anne’s erratic behavior, narcissistic nature, and inability to raise her children led to fractured family in which Anne was always the child and expected to be taken care of by either her grandparents or children.

While it is difficult to read such a story, it is even more arduous to have any kind of compassion of sympathy for Anne. Yet, Laurel is not the kind to be victimized or vilify her mother. Instead, she presents the facts and makes sure that the reader understands that they are presented from her point of view. Additionally, she presents the memoir in an anti-chronology. Instead of starting with her birth or her mother’s upraising, she begins with her mother’s death. She then jumps around in time between her childhood, her adulthood, Anne’s childhood, and Laurel’s adolescence. For some readers, this may be distracting and difficult to understand. However, I thought that is matched the memoir perfectly. She presents her stories as memories which are no sequential. It might make it harder for the reader, but it’s more true to life and memory.

While I was pretty entranced by the memoir, I cannot fully endorse it. The reason being that I don’t know how many people will really enjoy. As I previously stated, I could relate to the story and therefore found it merits. For those who have not had a fractured family such as Laurel’s, you may find the memoir self-indulgent or even tedious. Additionally, this is not a memoir specifically about Anne so if you are looking for a story about the dark side of Hollywood as seen through the eyes of a 1960s model...this is not the book for you. This is just as much Laurel’s memoir as it is her mother’s. Personally, I think that the book could benefit from some photographs. Many of the descriptions of Anne focus on her great beauty and eventual disintegration, similar to Dorian Gray. Unfortunately, there aren’t any photographs to back this up. I was able to find some online, but it’s a bit of a hassle when they easily could have been printed in the book. Lastly, while the writing was beautiful and I found the story to have worth, it seemed more like a personal project that had somehow been published. I am sure it was a catharsis for Laurel but I don’t know how well it will play out with larger audiences. I do believe it has a future, I am just unsure what or where that is.