Book Review- Official Book Club Selection

“This is my book.” This is what Kathy Griffin states in her autobiography. She tells it like it is and exactly like she wants to. I used to think Kathy Griffin was just some crazy comedian, but after reading her book, I realize she is a well trained, determined, and hilariously funny comic. Kathy Griffin’s Official Book Club Selection tells her life story and her long tough struggle into the spotlight. She talks about anything and everything, even her personal life and plastic surgery battle.
This book is written just like a conversation. Kathy is telling you a story and a lot of the time, I felt like she was directly talking to me. Some of the language and content might be inappropriate for children or easily offended people. Griffin talks just like she always does and this includes profanities.
In her book, Kathy makes fun of her family a lot. She grew up in Chicago and her parents were very Catholic. She imitates her mother’s accent by using capitol letters and hyphens. “CHR-EYE-SSAKE!” she says, copying her mother’s voice. Her brothers would have famous kegger parties and she was exposed to drinking at a very young age. Lots of her family members were alcoholics and that is why, to this day, she does not drink. Griffin jokes about how her mother was “the second prettiest girl at presentation” at church when she was growing up. (The first was her father’s sister!)
Kathy Griffin discusses some of the more difficult points about her life as well. She worked and worked to become a star. Spending many years at The Groundlings, an improve group in Chicago, working to get acting roles or maybe even become a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She was very discouraged and hopeless when she was not finding work and had to do some pretty low down jobs. Kathy’s brother Kenny was a troubled guy. She explains why she thinks he was a child molester. There were multiple times she saw him beat his wife or girlfriends. She separated herself from him for many, many years and finally came to peace with the situation when she went to see him at the hospital. On his deathbed, Kathy realized he couldn’t ever hurt anyone else.
I recommend this book to anyone with a good sense of humor. You do need to be a mature, accepting reader, however, to fully appreciate and laugh at the comical stories Kathy Griffin tells. This book was so fun to read and also helped me learn a lot about a person I was no’t really familiar with.

331 Pages- 2 Books