This week, Alex and I decided to read Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres. While this is technically another non-fiction book, it's really very different than what we covered last week. Obviously, it's a lot more humorous. Ellen is a comedian (which, unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you already knew.) Really, this book is an insight into her life and thoughts, things she does everyday and what she really feels about life.
During certain parts of the book, she talks about some really serious things. She discusses how she and Portia like kids but don't intend to have any of their own. She has a chapter that she devotes to manners and how a lot of people don't have them anymore (which, is really my favorite chapter because I completely agree. People don't even give you simple thank you for things these days.) She talks about how we don't get out of the house and do things and our attentions span has been shortened.
However, it still has that Ellen wit. She makes jokes (even the inside flap is funny.) She has an entire chapter for the audio book where she writes out weird noises and we only have to guess as to what they would sound like on CD. If you've ever watched her show (like the hilarious clip below), you will see that she is just a funny person.
However, here is my major criticism of the book. If you are a comedian, someone who I know and love and I think is hilarious, then your book better be, well, hilarious. I'm not saying the whole thing was dull, but I expecting so much MORE from her. I expected my sides to be in stitches from laughing so hard. I expected every chapter to have more jokes than I could handle and, to be honest, I just didn't get that. Ellen is the type of comedian that she's funny because of her delivery and she isn't a strong enough writer for that delivery to come across the page. It wasn't that the material wasn't funny, it was that it just wasn't funny on a page without anyone delivering it to me.
That being said, I think this book could have been a lot better if I got the audio version. I hardly EVER advocate an audio book over the actual book, but Ellen actually reads her audio version and I think the book would just be better with all of the jokes being told as they were meant to be.
My Bottom Line 2 1/2 out of 5
I love Ellen DeGeneres. I don't watch her show and I haven't read her other two books but I do like her quite a bit. I think she's funny, smart, witty, and stands for some very positive things.
I really liked this book. I won't say I loved it because that's something I say about books I'll read over and over again, which I wouldn't do with this book. It was great, and I enjoyed it very much, but once through was enough.
My favorite chapter was "The Chapter for Audiobook Listeners" (even though I was reading a regular print copy). It was very funny, but I won't tell you why, because you should read it yourself.
The best part of the book is that it feels very much like Ellen is talking to you from the page. She wrote it to be that way (writing like she talks, addressing you - the reader - directly) and it works, and I liked it.
Short story: I like it, it's not for reading over and over, and I like the author more than I liked the book (but that isn't saying much because I really like the author).
I agree 100% with the idea that our attention spans have shortened. What with the internet and television and texting and video games and listening to music (and the fact that a lot of people, myself included, do some of these things simultaneously), people are slowly changing the way that their brains are wired. Basically, ADD is just going to be something people have in general, and it will become so commonplace that it will seem normal. People are losing their ability to just sit down and read a book without getting up to check the internet every half an hour, or go outside and just walk around and be. It makes me sad.
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