I'm the One That I Want

Yeaaaah, I'm not sure why this is in the categories "Humor" or "Comedy". I mean, sure, Margaret Cho is a comedian, but the book itself isn't comedic. It has comedic touches, but it's overall a pretty serious account of her life leading up to her career taking off.

Content warnings (oh boy):
drug addiction
alcoholism
sexual harassment
rape
gendered slurs
transphobia (&transphobic slurs)
homophobic slurs
fatshaming
racism (in-book)
ableism

I wanted to like this so bad. My mother loves Margaret Cho, and although I've never seen any of her stand-up, I've heard such great things about her comedy that I just wanted to fall in love with her voice. And, I mean, I did sympathize with her cycles of self-sabatoge and making light of her sufferings (something show more I do too :/ ), and the very ending of the book was so hopeful and inspirational that I was left feeling rosy-eyed about everything.

But she fat-shamed people in the book, she used transphobic slurs, homophobic slurs, etc. And not just once, but several, several times. I know Margaret Cho isn't straight, but continually using the f** word made me on the verge of closing the book and picking something else up. She also seems to have a strange infatuation with gay men that seems . . . bordering fetishization? Again I'm not very familiar with Margaret Cho, but it made me very uncomfortable.

So while the ending was great, and I have nothing against her actual journey, the writing and language really put me off. show less

I think I might need to stop reading comedian's memoirs. I feel like I have been so disappointed with a bunch of them in a row.

I picked up this book mostly because I remember way back when the earth was young (1990's) catching some of Margaret Cho's stand up and just laughing til I was breathless. I saw some of her more recent stand up and was underwhelmed. Then she showed up on Drop Dead Diva and I liked her just fine - so I thought - well - maybe this would be fun to read and maybe it'll remind me what I liked in her early standup.

Yeah. Not really. It seemed to me that beyond all the alcohol and debauchery that was depressing in itself - there was a never ending exploration of grudges she has held over her life.

I lost count of how show more many times she said someone from her past showed up at a show and she pretended she didn't know them. These encounters came across so silly and adolescent. I mean - in most cases I would have a grudge about these people too - but talking about the fact that later you ignored them as some sort of triumphant gotcha? Well - not really gripping reading for an audience and doesn't do a heck of a lot for how her personality came across.

I don't think there was a single laugh in this book. I guess maybe it is unfair to expect that comedians will have a few funny stories when they refect back on their lives - but this read way more like a diatribe of bad behavior -- hers, her family's and people that she has met.

Watch Drop Dead Diva - she's great in that - and give this book a pass. show less

A comedienne narrates her life.

I listened to this version of Margaret Cho's life, as an unabridged audiobook, read by the author. I liked that the author narrated it herself, especially when she impersonated her mother, but her male voices were painful.

I enjoyed the early part of the story the most; Margaret was a loner, picked on by the other children for being different, but she told her story without sounding overly sorry for herself. Unfortunately the second part of the book was Margaret's story of excessive drink and drugs and there was a distinct note of misery and self loathing, which quickly became irritating. This section was also too long - too many tales of drinking, partying and doing drugs, where a few examples would have show more done.

It was interesting how a child with no friends found a place for herself in comedy, in deriding the very things that had hurt her most in life. I had to respect her for that, even if her style of comedy is not to my taste. This book was published twelve years before I came across it and, judging by her appearances in YouTube, her career has progressed considerably since that time. show less

Powerful, painful, ultimately inspirational memoir. I'm a relatively recent fan of Cho's, and had no idea there was so much pain in her past. After reading this, I appreciate her talent and her success all the more.

First and foremost, I want to say that Margaret Cho is one of those comedians who you either love her, or hate her - there's no middle ground. You will find what she says to be either absolutely spot-on accurate, or so horribly distastful as to be offensive. She doesn't refrain from telling just how bad off she was for a good portion of her life, and this goes for both her stand-up routines, as well as this book. Nothing is held back.

As for the book, which roughly follows Margaret's life chronologically, I found it to be extremely depressing in the beginning. Gradually, though, as she begins to take more control of her life, it becomes more about getting her life together. As I was reading, there were so many times that I just wanted to show more hug the girl whose childhood was spent alone and ostracized, whose teenage years were spent searching for love from others, and who ultimately, as an adult, learned to love herself. show less

This whole book is just about self-loathing. Seriously, from start to finish it's all about her problems with drugs, alcohol, guys, sex, Hollywood, weight, parents, school, comedy, etc. etc. Every once in awhile there will be three sentences that are insightful pertaining to racism or feminism and I was always hoping for more elaboration, but instead she just goes on about how she downed another bottle of tequila. This book is boring and unsatisfying.