Kathy Griffin

Hilarious tell-all with funny insights into Seinfeld, Oprah, Andy Dick, and more. Kathy's own obstacles of a drug addict borther and thieving husband balance the memoir well. Don't even try to compare Chelsea Handler with Griffin - Kathy actually has a brain....

I freely confess that am an unabashed fan of the stand-up comic Kathy Griffin. I watch My Life on the D-List whenever I get the opportunity (damn you, Charter Communications! Bravo should be a core channel!) and I have seen her perform live at Foxwoods and Boston's Symphony Hall. I enjoy her profanity-laden style of storytelling, even though sometimes I am not so familiar with the pop culture events that she references. Written in a conversational style, Griffin's memoir traces her life from show more her early days as a binge-eating kid with dreams of showbiz stardom through her many "dues-paying" years in LA to her eventual (semi-) stardom, with pit stops to discuss her abusive brother, unfortunate taste in men, and plastic surgery. Peppered with humorous anecdotes about stars and life in Hollywood, and marked by some curious omissions (Celebrity Mole, anyone?--never mentioned), Griffin's memoir nevertheless portrays a surprisingly human woman who is realistic about the casualties of her career-driven life and who genuinely, touchingly, loves her parents.

I started by reading a paper copy of Official Book Club Selection, but ultimately switched to the audio version (read by Griffin herself), which was much more satisfying than trying to imagine her distinctive voice. However, I've just learned that the audio copy is abridged(???), which seems very un-Kathy-like. It certainly wasn't edited for language, I can tell you that much.

One of the best parts of the book--off the cuff celebrity skewerings--will also be its ultimate downfall as the references quickly become dated. However, this is all the more reason for Griffin to write a subsequent memoir, this time including even more delicious gossip and entertaining stories about her rise to (semi-) fame. show less

From my Cannonball Read 5 Review ...

I've had to stop running for awhile, so I finished up this audio book while cleaning my apartment last weekend (ah, the miracle of those noise-canceling ear buds).

I'm a fan of Kathy Griffin. I think she has a different way of making people laugh, is shameless in a way that doesn't make me cringe as much as, say, your average episode of "The Office," and (despite some of her jokes) seems like a genuinely nice and caring person. I picked this audio book show more because I figured hearing her tell these stories would probably be more entertaining than reading them.

I was right.

She is such a natural storyteller that I didn't really ever feel like she was READING to me. I'm wondering how much was faithful to the written book and how much was changed for the audio version; she'd stutter, get lost mid-thought and switch gears (in a non-annoying way) and just generally sounded like someone I know sharing a story, not an author or comedian reading from their memoir. That was nice.

If you aren't familiar with her work, Kathy Griffin started out as a comedian and actress, doing bit parts (including a memorable appearance on Seinfeld) until she was cast as the sidekick in 'Suddenly Susan', the Brooke Shield sitcom. Griffin is very up front about her understanding of her skills - she's not a traditional comedian (she doesn't excel at 10-minute stand-up spots relying on the set-up and punch line), and she was never going to be the ingénue in a blockbuster film. What she can do is be a funny sidekick, and tell some killer stories. If you've ever seen her live (I did, back in NYC), hopefully you know that she's this high-energy person who can spend 20 minutes telling a story that is funny the whole way through but doesn't rely necessarily on one big HA moment. I like that kind of comedy, but I realize it isn't for everyone.

This memoir is really a memoir, not just a collection of some essays that tell her story. It really differs from other comedian memoirs (like "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?") in that it has some pretty dark moments. It's a bit like "Bedwetter" in that aspect. For example, Griffin talks about one of her brothers, who she suspected of being a child molester.

You read that right. A child molester. And she deals with that in like the second chapter, so you know that this isn't just going to be about some hard-scrabble times at The Comedy Store.

But there are those stories, too. Griffin's exploration of how she found her place in the comedy world by setting up comedy nights with her friends that focused on storytelling and not repeating material is really interesting, as is her struggle with parlaying her success on "Suddenly Susan" into her own series ("My Life on the D List"). She talks about being repeatedly banned from talk shows, the Dakota Fanning awards show 'incident', and the suicide of a colleague. It's not all laugh-out-loud funny but it's all really interesting.

She also talks about her marriage, and what lead to it ending. It's a fascinating section of the book that really had me riveted and annoyed when I had to turn it off because I'd gotten to work.

This is a good book. I probably won't listen to it again, but if it's possible to lend audio books then I'll definitely be offering it up to friends. show less

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, show more she’s the annoying red head 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.

www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com show less