Hello All!  It looks like I’m moving up in the world. I am the new lover and upkeeper of the film bookcase. Also dubbed the “MTV/Autobiography” section, there are many fascinating reads that are just waiting to be discovered.  Some of my personal favorites are now facing out, including Isabella Rossillini’s entertaining read, Green Porno, based on her video shorts about the mating rituals of animals. In the next few months, I hope to encourage readers and all the self-proclaimed “movie-buffs” out there by bringing you my picks.

This week, I’ve been reading Chelsea Handler’s Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. Being an avid watcher of Chelsea Lately, her late-night talk show, I was a bit concerned about how her humor would translate to book form. And guess what! I loved it.  Taking the reader on a journey through the material fixation that was the 80s, Chelsea gives a hilarious portrayal of her childhood pursuits, ranging from getting the Cabbage Patch doll of her dreams to discovering “The Feeling” between her legs at a third grade slumber party.  It was interesting to read her present-day, formulated humor coming out of a young Chelsea.  While there was some disconnect between how that little girl would actually speak to her parents and Chelsea’s current developed humor, I enjoyed being let in on the foundational years and influences that have built her craft…of being hilarious.

Full of chapter-length anecdotes, one scene in particular struck me. After doing some necessary hazing to find the “dumbest people working on the show” at Chelsea Lately, she sends out an all-staff email regarding a gynecologist coming in to give pap smears and advice on infertility.  Seeing which staffers would sign up, she also sends the email to her boyfriend/CEO of E! Network, Ted. After much confusion and legal bills, Ted comes to his senses:  “In true Ted form, he was not in on the joke, which is basically the foundation of our relationship. No matter how much time goes by, I am still able to make him believe stories that no one who has completed high school would believe.”

A fun, fast read, I look forward to reading her other books My Horizontal Life and Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.

-Peyton

Share