My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/iDSXIyEchQA

Enjoy! ( )

I will forever associate Michael Ian Black with “The State.” Even though we didn’t have MTV for long when I was in high school, I have very strong memories of watching the show and loving it. I own the DVDs (yup, actual, physical, non-Blu-Ray DVDs), and thanks to Mr. Black I can clearly describe to you what $240 worth of pudding looks like.

I now follow Mr. Black on Twitter, which is how I found out about his new book. I was looking for something to listen to at the gym and on my walks to and from work, and this one turned out to be rather perfect for that purpose.

The full title of this sweet, funny, interesting, relatable and vulnerable book is “Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird).” It’s about Mr. Black’s attempts to wrestle with his own mortality and aging body while dealing with the fact that his mother is chronically ill. There’s an entire (vividly descriptive) chapter focused on how much he hates his feet. There’s one where he chronicles his attempt to learn what diseases he is predisposed to getting. And there’s a really great chapter focused on training for and running his first 10K race.

I very deliberately chose to include the descriptor “vulnerable” because I appreciated how Mr. Black stripped down to his deepest fears (which many of us share) and was brutally honest with the reader about his attempts to sort through them. It could have been SUCH a heavy book; instead, it was light in the right places, darkly humorous in the right places, and (sparingly) just plain dark when necessary. Mr. Black read the audio version, which I think really made the book come alive. ( )

Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (But Also My Mom's, Which I know Sounds Weird) is an amazing book! I thought it would be a laugh out loud book all the way through but it is not and I am not disappointed, it is better. He made lots of giggles sneak up on me, smirks, laughs, smiles, things I could relate so I could say, "YES!", and other emotions I didn't expect from a comedian's book. There is so much in this book about his life and his mom's life that is warm, tender, funny, loving, and full of laughter. What ever story he starts out somehow comes around to body parts and it is thought proving, funny, humorous, and often true. I love him as a stand up and he is just as good as a writer. Loved the book, thanks for the stories Michael! ( )

This is the first of Michael Ian Black's that I have read. In fact, I didn't even know he had written others until they were mentioned in this book, but I'm a big fan of his television work so when I had the chance to read an early review copy of this book I jumped at the opportunity.

I wouldn't say this is anywhere close to the best book I've ever read, but I have to commend it for being one of those books that feels more like you're having a conversation with the author than actually reading a book. It's easy to read (I read it over a Saturday morning) and entertaining enough that I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the moment - considering some of the darker subject matter, I think that's saying a lot for how great the story telling of this book is.

I don't know if the subject matter of this book (a great deal of it is about death, broken families, and genetic illnesses) is for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed this light hearted look at some of the more grim realities that we all face as we go through life. If you're looking for a great celebrity book that isn't all about how fantastic they presumably are, I highly recommend this one.

I was provided with a free copy of this book in order to conduct this review.

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