This isn’t my first of Jim Gaffigan’s books so I knew what I was getting into when I signed up. Sure enough, it is Jim Gaffigan talking about food he enjoys.
This book is enjoyable, I enjoy Gaffigan’s self-deprecating sense of humor and his admiration of his wife. I also appreciate his love of food and his rather dark sense of humor on appetites in the United States:
If aliens studied Earth, they would come to the conclusion that the United States is somehow consuming food on behalf of other countries.
The problem I ran into with this book wasn’t the book itself but the audiobook narration. I love Gaffigan’s standup routines, but Gaffigan talks a little too fast for his audiobooks in my opinion. He’s funny, don’t get me wrong, I just wish he’d slow down a bit. It does give off the stream of consciousness impression rather than the “I’m reading a book” impression, I just don’t always love it.
That said, the text is very funny and Gaffigan did make me laugh quite a bit, so even if the audiobook narration wasn’t my favorite, it didn’t ruin the experience.
Tag Archives: genre: humor
Food: A Love Story
Scrappy Little Nobody
I cannot remember why Anna Kendrick’s memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, was the first book I chose to read/listen to in 2020, but it was. I think I might have liked the title, honestly. And it was great to find out Anna was basically playing different versions of herself in her films, because she is such a dork, and I relate.
I always like celebrities who seem like they could be me. Anna’s stories in the book are both funny and endearing. I liked her recollections of her (very) early career and her views on child acting. I enjoyed the fact that it felt like she didn’t believe her life either, that she was just as shocked as the rest of us that she was a famous actress, and that she felt like she had imposter syndrome.
Her book wasn’t very long, about 250ish pages, and I was amused all they way through. It’s a fun, light hearted read that is perfect for a couple of days at the beach.
I will also say it’s a great book for a car ride – Anna Kendrick did her own audiobook reading, and that was a great move. Anna was great at it. I’ve heard some actors/actresses reading their own work and not being so great at it, but she did a great job. I really appreciated her phrasing and tone.
Short, fun book. If you like Anna Kendrick, go for Scrappy Little Nobody.
Carrie Fisher’s Shockaholic & Wishful Drinking
Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking are separate books by Carrie Fisher. I listened to The Princess Diarist not long after Fisher died, and as much as I enjoyed it, I ended up putting off reading these other two books. There are certain celebrity deaths that I am affected by, and Carrie Fisher is one of those (the other that immediately comes to mind is Robin Williams). But in 2019 I finally read both, back to back.
Wishful Drinking is the older book, a short book based on Fisher’s one woman show, and it was very funny. Fisher’s books are sort of dysfunctional memoirs. Fisher loves to highlight not only how wild her outside life was, but also how wild her inner life was, as she had bipolar disorder as well as struggling with substance abuse. Shockaholic continues on these themes, and Fisher goes into detail regarding her time using electroshock therapy. She credits it with greatly improving her mental illness/depression.
Some of Fisher’s stories are completely absurd, but she is consistently funny in both books. Her wordplay is witty and sharp, and some of her funniest moments are her tangents. Some criticisms I’ve seen include that Fisher is a product of Hollywood and it shows, but she *is* a product of Hollywood, so wouldn’t in show? She does seem rather self-aware. Certain critics – usually male – also seem put off by her frank descriptions of her experience with mental illness, which I will never criticize anyone for, because it’s different for everyone.
These books are short and funny and very honest. Any Carrie Fisher fan should definitely read them. They’re great airplane material, especially if you want to upset a complete stranger next to you, giggling through your flight.
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002
Ah yes, Theft By Finding – my return to David Sedaris.
After 2016 I basically didn’t pay any attention to Sedaris again until last year when I borrowed this audiobook from the library. I actually went to one of his readings for this book, which was highly enjoyable. I had planned to get an autograph but it was Sunday night and I couldn’t wait on the line since I had to work the next day.
This book was essentially diary entries of Sedaris’s from 1977-2002, and he admits he went back and filled in some gaps and made sure everything made sense before putting them out.
I loved these stories. Whether they’re tales of his early work in construction or of his family at the beach, I enjoyed them thoroughly – although not the 9/11 entry so much. To me, that entry, while well written, felt lost to me. I guess we all felt lost then. It brought back too much of that feeling of waiting around with nothing to do, waiting for something to happen that never happens. I hated that feeling. I hated remembering that feeling.
I think what I like most about Sedaris, and maybe he’s done this on purpose, but maybe he hasn’t, is that feeling he invokes of being a passenger and observer in his own life. He is observing, but he also somehow gives the impression that he has zero control over what happens to him. He randomly ends up on the street buying pot in the middle of the night because his roommate was supposed to do it, but he went to go get laid instead, so David had to do it because his roommate talked him into coming. (This isn’t an actual example, but it’s just the kind of thing Sedaris does – things happen to him like he has no choice in it).
Maybe some people find this annoying. Even I do sometimes. But I think part of Sedaris’s appeal to me is that I often feel like a passenger/observer taking part in my own life. There’s all that “Oh, you’re the heroine of your own story” bullshit out there, but really, I’m not fully in control of my own circumstances 90% of the time, and a lot of the time, I feel like everyone else on the stage and I’m the only person in the audience.
I even managed to hook my husband on Sedaris with this book, because I made him listen to portions of it in the car with me when we went places. I’m looking forward to his next batch, which is supposedly a thing that’s happening (supposedly 2003 – present-ish).
Also, “theft by finding” is a real thing. According to Wikipedia:
Theft by finding occurs when someone chances upon an object which seems abandoned and takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is genuinely abandoned and not merely lost or unattended.
I really like this phrase and idea for some reason.
Theft By Finding was a solid series of essays/diary entries. Any David Sedaris fan will enjoy it.
The Princess Diarist
Losing Carrie Fisher in 2016 bothered me. I loved and admired her from afar, the way many did. I thought she was brave, and she was funny, and she was brilliant.
I borrowed and listened to The Princess Diarist because I missed her, and I wanted to hear about her affair with Harrison Ford. Not exactly the most serious reason, but a reason all the same.
I loved the parts where she read her diary. I get that part. I get the teenage girl/young woman stuff. The part where her daughter read her poetry/stream of consciousness? Not so much. I am not good at poetry.
There wasn’t a lot about the making of Star Wars, but there was a lot of insight into the heart of a young woman from the perspective of her older self. I relate! I angsted so much as a teenager. Now…not so much.
It was a short book – I think I listened to the whole thing in one to two afternoons. Worth it if you want some gossipy deets on a steamy affair and the classic overthinking of everything by someone new to the sex game. Not worth it if you wanted a lot of cool Star Wars info. I didn’t need the Star Wars info to enjoy it.
I liked The Princess Diarist and its look at Carrie Fisher, who has been one of my heroines since I watched her blow out the grate on the Death Star and say, “into the garbage shoot, fly boy!” and always will be one of my heroines for her writing talent, her sharp wit and biting humor, and her always honest evaluation of herself.
Her last memoir is deeply personal and lovely. It made me miss her. I never met her, but I miss her.
Yes Please
Amy Poehler wrote and read her book, Yes Please, which I borrowed and listened to at work.
There were some very funny parts, although pieces could be dull. I did come away really wanting to watch Parks and Recreation, Poehler’s critical darling comedy that was apparently on life support for much of its tenure but survived six seasons.
My favorite thing about listening to female comedians is that they usually give pretty good advice and, as someone who is told frequently they should try stand up, I took away from Poehler’s book is that if I want to try it (I go back and forth on it, and not just stand up, anything), I really just should. Do as much as you can, as often as you can. Say yes as often as you possibly can.
That said, I loved listening to Poehler’s stories about her family because they did remind me a lot of my family, and you know, childhoods mess people up so it’s always fun to hear about how other people are just like you but different.
I also really admired about this book the way Poehler seems to admit and own the fact that she isn’t – and can’t be – funny all the time. As someone who works hard to be funny (as not my job), I really, really appreciate that. She says some other stuff too that I really appreciated hearing as well, including that there are benefits to getting older and getting towards/entering into middle age, one of the biggest being that you become so much more comfortable with yourself.
I am already comfortable with myself but if I could get more comfortable? I am on board.
Anyway, Yes Please wasn’t some super deep read/listen so you can probably get either done in a couple of days. Great beach read. I like Poehler’s voice and she comes off as funny and relatable.
I’ll Mature When I’m Dead: Dave Barry’s Amazing Tales of Adulthood
This was the first book I read on my new Kindle!
From Amazon:
Some people may wonder what this subject has to do with Dave Barry, since Dave’s struggled hard against growing up his entire life-but the result is one of the funniest, warmest, most pitch-perfect books ever on that mystifying territory we call “adulthood”.
In hilarious, brand-new pieces, Dave tackles everything from fatherhood, new fatherhood (“Over the next five years, you will spend roughly 45 minutes, total, listening to songs you like, and roughly 127,000 hours to songs exploring topics such as how the horn on the bus goes* [*It goes: ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’]”), self-image, the battle of the sexes, celebrityhood, technology, parenting styles, certain unmentionable medical procedures (“There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of a vasectomy, except that: THEY CUT A HOLE IN YOUR SCROTUM.”), and much more.
Going to the Bahamas, I had a $20 giftcard to use to buy a new book with my Kindle, which I’d take with me instead of the actual books. And I chose to buy this book, for one reason and one reason only: when I first picked up in Barnes & Noble (pre-buying it for the Kindle) I saw there was a made up 24 script that he wrote.
When 24 was on the air, Dave Barry would live blog it. Hilariously. So I decided I would add it to my Amazon wishlist, and when I got the Kindle, and was going to be spending a week at the beach, I decided this would be a great beach book.
It was. I blew through it (way faster than my other title). And it was really funny. But it wasn’t my favorite Dave Barry book ever, even with the hilarious 24 plot. My favorite Dave Barry books remain Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States and Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs.
The essay I enjoyed most was his essay about being 50 and having to endure a colonoscopy – which is, he says, one of the few times he’s tried to make a serious point with one of his essays. I got the point. It was a good point. I’m glad I’m still 28 years away from my first “required” colonoscopy.
There was an essay on healthcare, which was amusing, but because of the current situation with it I found it kind of sad. And then, of course, my favorite essays were the 24 script and the Twilight parody chapter he did. It was pretty funny – I also got the impression that he read actually read Twilight in order to write said parody, which I appreciated.
I think I missed the more touching moments of parenthood essays. I’m not much into parenthood. I haven’t experienced it, I don’t really want to experience it, etc…
There was an essay on being a minor celebrity which was pretty priceless, where he described that they made up their own VIP platform after not making it to the second level of VIP-ness. Cracked me up.
Overall, I enjoyed this book enough to recommend it. I was laughing in public enough to get asked what I was reading on a number of occasions. Great, fast beach book.
words in scarlet ink 