I’ve been avoiding Chelsea Handler – her TV shows and her books, especially her books. Cathy Horyn’s recent article Comedy With a Side of Disgust called me out on my uptight judgment.
“It’s obvious that Ms. Handler who delights in calling her staff members ‘idiots,’ has a good head on her shoulders…{selling} four books in almost as many years…Silly, or not, they have sold in the millions.”
“She’s funny…but a little raunchy”
Sometimes compared to Roseanne in comedy style, Handler evolved from being a participant in a reality show “Girls Behaving Badly” to standup comic and now TV, books, and movies. Taking Horyn’s cue, I skipped over My Horizontal Life (an account of her one night stands), and ordered her 2010 publication Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang from the library.
What had I been missing? Not much. Potty and foul-mouthed declarations and a memoir that starts out planning to shock, then segways to Cabbage Patch dolls. Funny? Not really, but I guess that depends on your sense of humor.
To be fair, I lost interest after the first few chapters, but it was enough to know that I don’t plan to read anymore by this “author.”