Monday, May 21, 2012

Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me by Chelsea Handler


It’s no lie: Chelsea Handler loves to smoke out “dumbassness,” the condition people suffer from that allows them to fall prey to her brand of complete and utter nonsense. Family, friends, and coworkers have all been tricked by Chelsea into believing stories of total foolishness and into behaving like total fools. Luckily, they've lived to tell the tales and, for the very first time, write about their humiliating experiences.
It doesn’t matter if you’re minding your own business, busily working, or honeymooning thousands of miles away. No one is ever safe from Chelsea’s fake e-mails and phony pregnancies, bogus smuggling schemes and made-up sports bets. Because whether it’s premeditated or spur-of-the-moment, Chelsea will do anything for a laugh. And that’s the truth.

I have read all three of Chelsea Handler’s previous books and loved them, so I had high expectations for Lies. Unfortunately, I think my expectations were a little too high. Don’t get me wrong; it was still a good book and made me laugh out loud on few occasions, but it just wasn’t quite as good as her previous books. In my opinion, the humor is a little weaker in this book because it isn’t written by Chelsea; it’s written by her friends, family, and coworkers, most of whom are funny…but they’re just not Chelsea funny.

On the jacket cover of the book is the following quote by Chelsea Handler: “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.” I knew that her lies would be somewhat large, but I had no idea they would be on such a grand scale. I mean…holy crap! After I read this book, I’m actually a little bit grateful that I’m not friends with Chelsea just for my own sanity. Her lies range from faking a pregnancy to forging co-workers emails, but my favorite story involves her convincing a fellow bridesmaid to sing a duet with the bride to her new husband, because the bride was “too scared to do it alone.” After the poor bridesmaid starts singing and sees the bride’s reaction, she finally realizes that this was just another one of Chelsea’s schemes to keep herself entertained.

I actually thought the stories written by her family members were a lot funnier than the stories written by the comedic writers on her show, which kind of surprised me. Also, some of the stories made her seem almost vicious, although I honestly don’t think that is ever her intention with her pranks. She’s almost like an 8-year-old boy with a severe case of ADD. All in all, I thought it was a good book and it did make me laugh out loud a few times, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.  



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