(chelseahandler.com)
Chelsea Handler is not shy. Then again, why should she be? As a late-night television host for E! and the best-selling author of three books, Handler knew she could talk about anything in her latest best-seller, “Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.”
The blonde stand-up comedian TV host of “Chelsea Lately” starts out the novel talking about “the feeling.”
“I was eight-years-old and well into the third grade at Riker Hill Elementary School when I fell head over heels in love with myself,” Handler said.
She is talking about her obsession with masturbation at a young age, having no qualms about putting herself out there for a laugh.
The novel continues with a series of essays about Handler’s daily happenings, mostly from the past couple of years. The book is an easy, light read. Much of it covers her three-year relationship with boyfriend Ted Herbert, the CEO of Comcast Entertainment Group (E! Network).
She continuously talks about tricking her boyfriend into believing ridiculous stories. She even makes up a dog autopsy and a dog funeral, while making up that she accidentally killed a dog.
The book covers less of her past and more of her present, as her childhood and young adult years was covered largely by “My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands” and “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.”
After “The Feeling,” Handler talks about wanting the perfect Cabbage Patch Kid and of course, not getting exactly what she asked for. “My parents couldn’t have been more unreasonable when it came to fads or clothes that weren’t purchased at a pharmacy.”
Like her other books, Handler brings her dysfunctional family into the mix. Her family and siblings are regular characters for Handler fans. She takes mushrooms with her brother, pokes fun at her Mormon sister and continues to bash her father for being a mess, even staging an intervention.
Her last chapter “Deep Thoughts by Chelsea Handy” once again makes up a story about not much of anything.
“My tendency to make up stories and lie compulsively for the sake of my own amusement takes up a good portion of my day and provides me with a peace of mind not easily attainable in this economic climate,” Handler said.
Her ability to make up stories also leaves her with endless book material.
Chelsea Handler might not be the next literary genius, but she puts together a hell of a hysterical read. Her self-deprecating style, seen in her television show and in her books, continues to work.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sara Juliet Fruman at sara.fruman@colorado.edu.
