Uganda Be Kidding Me

One of my guilty pleasures was the Chelsea Handler Show. The humor was rough, and she held nothing back in expressing her views on politics, religion, sports, or a myriad of other targets of her caustic wit. Her books are largely autobiographical, and she doesn’t even spare her own family. Her recent book, Uganda Be Kidding Me hilariously describes her trip to East Africa. I laughed so hard, my face hurt.

Here is Chelsea’s description of the beginning of their flight to Africa. She writes, “I was asleep before the plane even took off. I had told the pilot I was pregnant and suffering from severe motion sickness, and after he agreed to let me turn mu chair into a bed, I ordered one more Bloody Mary, popped a Xanax, and woke up in show more Dubai. // I like to sleep as much as possible. I like to sleep on planes primarily to avoid technology. My grasp of electronics is commensurate to my grasp of the moon; I’m unclear as to how either arrived at its current status. Nor do I have the attention span or wherewithal to make heads or tails of why I’m so far behind the general populace in accepting the theory of space and time, and its relevance to my own life. On a side note: I find most astronauts to be class A narcissists” (13). I have serious doubts about the levels of her alcohol and drug consumption. I cannot imagine she would be able to function as she does if it were all true.

Chelsea does have her serious side, but she can’t resist even a slight jab at the end. In this part, she writes about her arrival in Africa. “For someone who’s never been more than moderately interested in animals, the place was surreal and, to be honest, borderline amazing. We were transported from a tiny nugget airport by an open-aired jeep to an outdoor lodge, where we were served iced green teas on a tented deck that overlooked a view of the reserve and exposed granite that the river had carved through. Right before our eyes was this majestic landscape filled with brooks, boulders the size of planets, and hippos wading into watering holes while wild elephants called to each other. It was like being on the set of Jurassic Park but with room service” (17).

Chelsea Handler’s Uganda Be Kidding Me is not for everyone, but certainly for her legions of fans, among whom I count myself. 5 stars.

--Jim, 2/11/16 show less

Chelsea and her travels through Africa and some other assorted trips. I'll have to admit it's kind of a guilty pleasure. She's crass, rude and pretty much everyone is a target for her humor or ridicule. She goes after little people, the workers at the resorts, her lover who's afraid of flying to name a few. She goes on three different "safari" excursions in Africa at the start of the book all in one foul swoop. The first resort she and her cohorts just love, well except for the food. The 2nd one they are going to ride elephants, that's the highlight of the resort. The 3rd they actually see an elephant run off lions from a recent kill. Ok, more about the humor, again frequently base humor. She uses the great outdoors as her toilet, show more sometimes with photographic proof. After having a bout of constipation it all breaks loose with funny results, involving the dunes at a beach and then a kayak. She tells of a mixed lover she met in London who takes her skiing. She gets herself lost leaving the ski lodge and ends up at the wrong resort. Not really doing the book justice but if you liked her show the book is just as fun but a lot more vulgar. show less

Always entertaining and slightly out of her ever loving mind, this is another example of what a Chelsea Handler fan expects! A super fun read and actually made me lol at points. However, I was taken out of the read at points when there were missing or mispelled words and at one point an entire paragraph repeated.

Read this while on my safari honeymoon in South Africa; picked it up because Uganda = Africa and I thought it might be nice to read about something related to Africa while IN Africa. Little did I know she actually starts her trip with a safari in South Africa!

Highlight:
Her account of safari is pretty entertaining, and she includes lots of photos, some of which made me jealous. (Elephant chasing lions away from a kill?!)

Lowlight:
I cannot overstate how uninterested I was in the times/ways she used the great outdoors as her toilet. Unfortunately, these are also documented photographically.

I laughed less then I did with her other books.
Perhaps because the novelty of a drunk, foul mouthed celebrity who lives a ridiculous life has worn thin after three books.
I did enjoy the fact that she fully admits she lives a ridiculous life, and did laugh frequently. It was a good light hearted read.
To be honest I found the funniest part of the book the excerpt that is from Whitney Cummings at the end.

While lying in bed next to my Grumpalufagus (the husband), I must have snorted and guffawed most of the evening while reading Chelsea's latest. This was my favorite book of Handler's yet. My new phrase when dealing with stupid people will be "Are you a Scientologist?". Hysterical. Buy it now.

Uganda Be Kidding Me

The Characters:

Chelsea Handler and a host of friends, family and random people me while traveling.

The Story:

Chelsea is crazy and I mean that in the best way possible. I am unsure how much of these stories are fabrication and how much is truth but I honestly doubt even Chelsea knows. Her alcohol laden tales are a delight to listen to.

I’d love to travel with her one day.

The Random Thoughts:

4 Stars